I need to think about moving to Colorado. The skiing is pretty good there. They also recently recognized Donald Trump as a traitor to the United States. (The only problem with that is they deferred the final decision on that question to the United States Supreme Court, which was the right thing to do.)
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I’m beginning to see my life with more clarity than at any point in the past. Yes, this sort of thing comes with age. Experiences also play a major role in shaping who we are and how we see ourselves. Good experiences and bad experiences all become factors. Once we are fortunate to obtain the vision of who we are, the trick becomes hanging on to that vision. We should be careful to do just that.
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I like to view my life as a beautiful hand-bound book. I will spend the greater portion of my life writing the pages. In the end, I will carefully stitch the pages together and bind them using a beautiful cover. I will then place the book into the hands of someone I think will refer to it occasionally and perhaps, just perhaps, will find a small portion of it useful in some way.
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Sometimes I write things that have great meaning to me but most likely leave whomever is unfortunate to be reading this scratching their head. To those who find themselves in that boat, I have two comments: First, try writing daily, I think you’ll find it’s not always easy. Second, be assured that even if it doesn’t make sense to you, it probably makes sense to me… Sometimes… Maybe…
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There are many ways to pay attention to our lives. Writing a poem is one way, but not the only way. What matters is that we find a way to do it. It might not be the same way every day. By paying attention to our lives, we stand a better chance of consciously fulfilling our destiny.
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Some days the writing comes more easily than others. Like today. That does not lessen the experience. The satisfaction that comes from reflection is the same even if no conclusions are revealed.
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The following thoughts are some of those expressed by Julia Cameron. She’s a professional writer. I admire that. I think what she has to say here applies to all of us who pick up a pen. She has been writing for over 50 years, which gives her a unique perspective. I like what she has to say.
“Writing is an act of bravery.”
Yes.
“Writing tells us the truth about who we are.”
Yes.
“Writing tells the Universe what we need.”
Yes.
“Writing allows the Universe to help us.”
Yes.
“Writing shows us our path.”
Yes.
“Writing gives us wisdom.”
Yes.
“Writing allows us to see more clearly.”
Yes.
“Writing helps us to be honest with ourselves.”
Yes.
“Writing makes us healthy.”
Yes.
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My reading goal for this year is six books a month. I’m off to a good start, I made my goal for January. Here are January’s books.
Title: 101 Essays that will Change the way You Think
By: Brianna Wiest
It’s not a tremendous read, but it is a thoughtful one. I did take away some ideas for my Year of Living Thoughtfully Project, so all things considered, it was worth the time investment. I suppose one of the more important ideas I extracted from the book is the author’s notion that “thought creates reality.” When you think about it, it’s hard to deny that notion — especially since we have seen that played out so conspicuously (and negatively) in our social sphere these last few years… From a personal perspective, my thoughts have led me to take on projects (like the one mentioned above) and one I have in the wings for next year, so there you go.
Title: Bookbinding A How-To Guide
By: E.P. Carter
This book talks about my dream job. It’s the inspiration for my plan to hand-bind my poetry for my children. There’s a trade school in Boston that teaches this art. It would be fun to establish a school for this in Bend Oregon, if I were, oh, let’s say, 40 years younger… I would skip the clay tablets and pressed papyrus scrolls and focus on hand-sewn and leather-bound varieties of books, FYI.
Title: The Slickrock Desert
By: Stephen W. Hinch
A terrific read. I loved it. This book is worth reading every time before going into the Utah wilderness or the Four Corners area. I loved the story about the establishment of the Grand Staircase Escalante Nation Monument. President Clinton established the monument, but the proposal sat on his desk, unread and mostly ignored until Chelsea saw the proposal on his desk and told him “You have to do something about this!” Children are so wonderful.
Title: The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy
Edited By: John Brehm
Not surprisingly, none of my poems showed up in this collection (that’s a joke). As poetry books go, I love most that I have run into, this one was top drawer. It is simply a collection of poems with no annoying commentary. There is an interesting introduction by the author, and at the end of the book, he says a few words about each poet. This is a book you can pick up from time to time and peruse easily and fruitfully. It is the inspiration for my “64 Poets Project” that I’m planning to undertake next year.
Title: Novelist as a Vocation
By: Haruki Murakami
My main reason for reading this book was to discourage myself from thinking I could write a novel… Sorry to say, it did not discourage me from writing (stuff like this). I love to write. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do it well, what matters is that you do it. The same is true for all activities I should think. If there is something you love to do, it doesn’t matter if you are good at it or not, just do it (to steal a phrase). Back to writing, we need more writers in the world, and people willing to read. TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X don’t count as writing, sorry.
Title: White Holes
By: Carlo Rovelli
There is real science in this book, but more importantly, perhaps is the need to use your imagination to grasp the subject. Even if you are a trained scientist with a firm grip on the equations of General Relativity (I’m not describing myself) you still have to stretch your imagination to see how the pieces fit together. I have a small notion of what Rovelli is talking about. The following does not do his little book justice, but I’m going to throw this at you anyway: There is no solid agreement in the scientific community on this topic, but Rovelli has convinced me, that if you were to travel through a Black Hole, you would emerge in another time and place after having exited a White Hole. In other words, these two features of our Universe are conjoined and work in concert with one another. The only problem is no one has found a white hole (this is me talking) largely because they exist in a spatial and temporal plane that we (humans) can’t observe. Now go smoke some pot. (Side note: The Tralfamadorians understand all of this very well, as clearly insinuated by Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse Five. I will definitely be reading more Rovelli.
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Along the lines of six books a month, here is a list of 72 poets. If I were to read all of these poets in one year, that would be six poets per month. That’s not my plan. I would simply like to collect a few poems from each of these poets — from time to time. Having this list puts me on the road to fulfilling that ambition someday. Here’s hoping…
Dick Allen
A.R. Ammons
Matsuo Basho
Ellen Bass
Elizabeth Bishop
Shido Bunan
Yosa Buson
Chuang-Tzu
Billy Collins
Eihei Dogen
Robert Frost
Jack Gilbert
Han Shan
Jane Hirshfield
Andrea Hollander
Kobayashi Issa
Anna Kamienska
Jack Kerouac
Bill Knott
Yusef Komienska
Marilyn Kryst
Philip Larkin
D.H. Lawrence
Denise Levertov
Li Po
Bronislaw Maj
Czesław Milosz
Marianne Moore
Pablo Neruda
Frank O’Hara
Alicia Ostriker
Ron Padgett
Lucia Perillo
Fernando Pessoa
Paulamin Petersen
Po Chu-i
Ezra Pound
Jacques Prevert
Kenneth Rexroth
Yannis Ritsos
Kay Ryan
Ryokan
Saigyo
James Schuyler
William Shakespeare
Old Shoju
Tracy K. Smith
Gary Snyder
Ikkyu Sojun
William Stafford
Wallace Stevens
Ruth Stone
Su Tung P’o
Anna Sir
Wislawa Szymborska
Tomas Transformer
Tu Fu
Wei Ying-Wu
Walt Whitman
William Carlos Williams
William Wordsworth
James Wright
William Butler Yeats
Adam Zagajewski
If you were to add these up, you may have noticed that it does not total 72. That’s okay, I thought I would give myself some room to add a few more — not that I really need to…
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Artificial Intelligence is the biggest intellectual achievement in human history. (Arguably, General Relativity is right up there.) What we choose to do with it will challenge our biological intelligence and our social adaptability. It will do so to a degree never before experienced or even imagined.
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A history that looks back and mythologizes what has come before is nothing more than a tool of persuasion disguised as “thought.”
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If all cats are pets, it does not follow that if it is not a cat, it is not a pet. Listen carefully, you will hear this argument made in different forms more often than you can imagine. Don’t let this sort of thinking stand as an intelligent argument.
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Nothing that presents itself as a problem is ever a problem for long. The trick is to recognize it so it can be dealt with. If it can’t be dealt with perhaps it is not your problem.
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Tomorrow will come before you know it. Never let what is happening today stop you from waking up tomorrow with new hope and anticipation.
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Any activity that helps you to pay attention to your life is good.
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Okay, I have some 2024 goals. I’m going to lay them out here, because, well, a goal not stated is not a goal, right?
My First goal is to read six books a month. I checked that box in January (with a few days to spare too). I’ll chat about the “January 6” in a follow-on entry. It turned out not to be as difficult as I thought to knock out six books in a month, it was fun too.
My second goal is to exercise daily. When I say daily, I would seriously like to make this a daily activity. I expect this will be harder than reading six books a month, but we’ll see. What I have in mind is not that difficult. A little rowing, a little balancing, a little stretching for the back and legs, and probably the most important exercise, walking. When I’m here in Seattle I can walk up Queen Anne Hill (it’s a steep one). You’ll see the point of all this as we get into the rest of my goals for 2024.
With that, here they are. I would like to hike a couple hundred miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, bicycle from Missoula MT to Florence Beach OR, ride a portion of the Oregon BDR on my motorcycle, and the one I’m most excited about, print and hand bind my poetry, three copies, one for each child. That last one will take some skills that I don’t have. I’m referring here of course to hand bookbinding, but that also applies to writing poetry.
If I can pull off this list, it will be a good year for sure. I just need to keep the following tips in mind:
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If I am having dinner with you and I take my phone out of my pocket without your permission, feel free to take it away from me.
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It’s fine to pursue perfection but it must be tempered by the understanding that perfection is a thing not attainable… except perhaps by nature.
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A work of art needs to be created apart from time. It’s said that time “slows down” when we are being creative. This is a great truth of the universe, time is relative, not fixed.
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What do I know about writing? Nothing really. All I can say for sure is it makes me feel good. Perhaps this is a need I don’t understand. I do know it makes me feel fulfilled. Perhaps that is why I come back to it each day.
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Here is my advice to you (please forgive me for being so bold) write every day. You will learn more by exploring your own thoughts than you will by blindly adopting the thoughts of others.
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Which is better: The “collective intelligence” of society or the whims and desires of “great men?” To my way of thinking, the notion of “a great man” is pure fantasy. It is possible to rise to greatness when called upon, but to do so requires a special quality, not conferred by greatness, it is much more about humility and compassion.
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It’s raining in the mountains again. I’ve had one week of good skiing this winter. I’m not complaining. Wait, yes I am…
Don’t use the top.
Don’t use the trough.
Turn on the bearm.
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To understand the path we are on, we have to understand what drives us. What it is that made us choose this path. We must also ask if this is the right path to be on. There is no disgrace in altering our path if that’s what it takes to remain true to ourselves.
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I should write a poem
for my birthday,
but I don’t know how
to begin.
Perhaps it’s COVID
that brings me this feeling
of not knowing,
maybe it’s just me.
I want to be somewhere else
today, but circumstances
are what they are,
I’m here.
We will fix this
by going out to dinner tonight.
Fuck COVID.
I’ll have a bourbon and some fresh pasta.
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