If you're as low income as I am and can't buy much else, buy Chris' two books. I bought them some time ago and recommend them. If you appreciate what Chris writes here, you will love his books.
Poetry as spiritual practice. Thanks always, Chris.
Wow. More stuff is the last thing I need but it’s hard to pass up some of these temptations! The “time with” and/or “experience” options are so nice--would love to see more of those at auctions.
Let’s all do all we can to support the (truly) powerful, mighty, and inevitable 🧡
(Also I appreciate the point about Indigenous feminism. Considering the perennial “what the hell is wrong with white women?” problem and some of the women governors and judges we have in the U.S., just putting women in charge doesn’t seem like it’ll automatically make things better.)
Sadly, I've reached a similar conclusion. As long as we're futzing around inside the master's house with the master's tools, it doesn't matter who's using them.
I love this so freaking much. YES to whitie needing help. (I’m saying whitie as a joke but also: we are drowning.) Yes to the “dominant” culture needing to learn (remember) some different (old) ways. Thank you for saying it! And having the grace not to shove our faces in it but invite us to join the revolution. Love that flag above. 🫶🏽 Love this post.
I have a million questions but I am going to start with one because I do want to leave the house today and it will be dark soon up here so close to Canada we could almost touch it.
Hi! Eventually I'll say more maybe if you are ok with that. Pretty much everything I have read here on your substack has me going "yup", "pretty much", "uh-huh"; so most of my imagined comments so far have amounted to: "This here!"
But today a question arose (edited for, I hope, some clarity):
Have you written on poetry as a spiritual practice? I am terminally curious about perspectives elsewise than the EuroAmerican academic one, in which I am thoroughly drenched. But even within that tradition, once Plato wrote that he would ban poets from his Republic because we do not tell the truth, poetics itself has been in a position of resistance to pretty much everything else that grew up around it.
Which puts it close to spiritual practice, as I understand it anyway, as an escapee from Christian fundamentalism and into something like Zen and/or Insight Buddhist practice: in Zen especially, Buddhist practice looks to me like questioning everything one has ever been taught--especially when it looks and feels like someone else's projections of their own fears out into the world as it goes in spite of their (or my own) fever dreams.
That is the tiniest nutshell I could squeeze my own thoughts into. Would you care to say more about how you approach poetry as a spiritual practice: in general and/or in practical terms?
I often wonder why we do gift exchanges in, what is here, mid-winter.
Nearly every culture, and society, i have explored has a "bad season give away" holiday.
After the "we made it through harvest" we can have feast to celebrate what we managed to bring in (here at this house, we are really not good at bringing in food...).
Then, we step back, assess what we have, and if we are decent people, we figure out if our friends, neighbors, and relatives have too. If we have more, decent people share, and perhaps that is where the gift giving came from. Some people are not good at getting food, but they make beautiful things, and so we all end up with rather similar resources to try to get through the bad times.
We need to get back to taking care of each other, I think. It's something really lacking in the overall "American" society. Just caring enough to know who's doing okay and who's not-and changing things so people do okay.
That's a great question, Patricia. Imagine if all the money we spend on these holidays (and for throwaway garbage for our pets, for that matter) went to something more meaningful on a societal level? What a revelation!
I appreciate your thoughts and your kind words. Miigwech!
I did it. Bought both. Will read them and perhaps gift them on. And then the rest of the post, I will be sharing this thought especially: "It is this adolescent system of colonialism and capitalism that is new, trying to inflict its power over the way things should be, the way they have always been. Bodily autonomy, personal sovereignty, tribal sovereignty, a system of care where everyone looks after everyone else … that is the way of the world. These cares are what have held communities together for thousands of years." I could spend the entire "holiday" season just gifting this message.
If you're as low income as I am and can't buy much else, buy Chris' two books. I bought them some time ago and recommend them. If you appreciate what Chris writes here, you will love his books.
Poetry as spiritual practice. Thanks always, Chris.
Thank you!
Wow. More stuff is the last thing I need but it’s hard to pass up some of these temptations! The “time with” and/or “experience” options are so nice--would love to see more of those at auctions.
Let’s all do all we can to support the (truly) powerful, mighty, and inevitable 🧡
(Also I appreciate the point about Indigenous feminism. Considering the perennial “what the hell is wrong with white women?” problem and some of the women governors and judges we have in the U.S., just putting women in charge doesn’t seem like it’ll automatically make things better.)
Sadly, I've reached a similar conclusion. As long as we're futzing around inside the master's house with the master's tools, it doesn't matter who's using them.
I love this so freaking much. YES to whitie needing help. (I’m saying whitie as a joke but also: we are drowning.) Yes to the “dominant” culture needing to learn (remember) some different (old) ways. Thank you for saying it! And having the grace not to shove our faces in it but invite us to join the revolution. Love that flag above. 🫶🏽 Love this post.
Thank you, Kara. 🙏🏽
I have a million questions but I am going to start with one because I do want to leave the house today and it will be dark soon up here so close to Canada we could almost touch it.
Hi! Eventually I'll say more maybe if you are ok with that. Pretty much everything I have read here on your substack has me going "yup", "pretty much", "uh-huh"; so most of my imagined comments so far have amounted to: "This here!"
But today a question arose (edited for, I hope, some clarity):
Have you written on poetry as a spiritual practice? I am terminally curious about perspectives elsewise than the EuroAmerican academic one, in which I am thoroughly drenched. But even within that tradition, once Plato wrote that he would ban poets from his Republic because we do not tell the truth, poetics itself has been in a position of resistance to pretty much everything else that grew up around it.
Which puts it close to spiritual practice, as I understand it anyway, as an escapee from Christian fundamentalism and into something like Zen and/or Insight Buddhist practice: in Zen especially, Buddhist practice looks to me like questioning everything one has ever been taught--especially when it looks and feels like someone else's projections of their own fears out into the world as it goes in spite of their (or my own) fever dreams.
That is the tiniest nutshell I could squeeze my own thoughts into. Would you care to say more about how you approach poetry as a spiritual practice: in general and/or in practical terms?
I would love to but I think it warrants putting in an actual post as opposed to a comment thread. Are you willing to wait a week or so for the answer?
Absolutely! Take your time.
I often wonder why we do gift exchanges in, what is here, mid-winter.
Nearly every culture, and society, i have explored has a "bad season give away" holiday.
After the "we made it through harvest" we can have feast to celebrate what we managed to bring in (here at this house, we are really not good at bringing in food...).
Then, we step back, assess what we have, and if we are decent people, we figure out if our friends, neighbors, and relatives have too. If we have more, decent people share, and perhaps that is where the gift giving came from. Some people are not good at getting food, but they make beautiful things, and so we all end up with rather similar resources to try to get through the bad times.
We need to get back to taking care of each other, I think. It's something really lacking in the overall "American" society. Just caring enough to know who's doing okay and who's not-and changing things so people do okay.
Thank you for your writing.
It is something that can help people do okay.
That's a great question, Patricia. Imagine if all the money we spend on these holidays (and for throwaway garbage for our pets, for that matter) went to something more meaningful on a societal level? What a revelation!
I appreciate your thoughts and your kind words. Miigwech!
I did it. Bought both. Will read them and perhaps gift them on. And then the rest of the post, I will be sharing this thought especially: "It is this adolescent system of colonialism and capitalism that is new, trying to inflict its power over the way things should be, the way they have always been. Bodily autonomy, personal sovereignty, tribal sovereignty, a system of care where everyone looks after everyone else … that is the way of the world. These cares are what have held communities together for thousands of years." I could spend the entire "holiday" season just gifting this message.
Thank you, Beth. I hope you enjoy them!