This land that I love, and the access I have to it, is very much indexed to the particular historical moment in which I find myself. Home-as-a-place is a location you inhabit. But home-as-a-time is a forum in which you take action and in which your actions take on meaning.
Biology lacks the universality and neutrality of physics. It looks at one particular and, as far as we can tell, exceptionally rare phenomenon in the vast cosmos—the phenomenon of life. And, for all its rigorous methodology, the science of life starts from a very partial standpoint: it takes one to know one.
The choices we make don’t just reflect settled priorities. They also shape those priorities, reinforcing past choices or laying down new patterns.
Socrates’ examined life is more adverb than verb. It’s not that the examining is the sole or dominant activity in a good life. It’s rather that all activities in a good life are undertaken examinedly.
By never allowing themselves to be seen getting things wrong, cynics can maintain a sheen of cleverness. But if they were in fact clever, they’d investigate further. They might even discover that, in some cases, people aren’t so bad after all.
In the Nuu-chah-nulth tradition, and in many others of the northwest coast, the “bear people,” the “salmon people,” the “deer people,” and others are regarded as sovereign nations that the “human people” must negotiate with according to strictly defined protocols.
It’s not so much that we live in a world that’s lost faith in metaphysics. It’s rather that we live in a world that’s lost interest.
What is to be gained from contemplating one’s mortality? And are you missing out on anything if you don’t?
Gift exchange at its best is a playful form of status exchange. It acknowledges that relationships always involve imbalances of power, but shows that both parties to the relationship are comfortable enough with one another that they can switch between the roles of creditor and debtor with ease and grace.
Autumn, as a season of changes, is a fine time to reflect on impermanence, its sadness, and its beauty.