Hey! Here’s an idea from 1940s French philosophy that adds a little spaciousness to my daily life. In a nutshell: the past ain’t dead, time is tangled, and the darkness holds galaxies.
Sedimentation and rupture, my friends. The main idea is from philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and I weave in thinking from Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Eubanks, and Bayo Akomolafe.
It’s a bit longer than the previous episodes, so set yourself up for a twenty-minute listen :) And be sure to like and share if the episode resonates.
In trying to sort-out what I’m doing with this podcast, I found inspiration in
’s recent post, The Lesson of Empty Hands. He says that when writing: “There needs to be something alive on the other end of the line, a source of energy that comes from somewhere else, so that your job becomes to wrestle with this and draw it in and find out what exactly it is.”For now, the Beauty in the Mire podcast is giving shape to those ideas still flickering with life at the other end, before they die out or get sent elsewhere (as
talks about in Big Magic). My hope is that the ideas resonate with some of you, as they have with me. (And trusting that will find some bounty in his empty hands!)In the episode, I reference Virginia Eubanks’ book, Automating Inequality, which is excellent. Her work manages to balance historical research, political critique, and heart.
I also talk a lot about attention. But
’s recent essay in Aeon, Concentrate! The challenge of chess – learning how to hold complexity in mind and still make good decisions – is also the challenge of life, makes me wonder if I sometimes mean “concentration”. I have to think about this more, but will report back in an upcoming episode.I quoted Bayo Akomolafe’s line, “The glitch is the emancipation”, which he said during the course We Will Dance with Mountains. Please look him up. He’s a poetic and powerful thinker. To start, you might read this older essay of his where he calls for us to slow down in urgent times.
I started Beauty in the Mire sometime after hearing Bayo and
speak. They both inspired me to experiment with what philosophy could be (ie. playful! generous! devastating! grace-filled!). Since then I’ve also been encouraged by other philosophers like (who offers philosophical inquiry sessions and also coffee),(whose writing has made me laugh and dare to “wear the backpack”), and (who writes beautifully on Merleau-Ponty).I’ll wait to send links on the grooviness of time. There are so many and I don’t want them to get lost at the end here.
Next time, I’m talking Kant in the café! But you can expect a piece of writing in the meantime.
Thanks for listening!
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