As I am writing this, there’s a debate going on whether Joe Biden is still cognitively able to fulfill the office of President of the United States of America, given a disastrous performance in a debate with another person who does not seem cognitively able to fulfill this role, Trump.
What a beautiful, deep insight into the matter. I can say that what is the case for academics, indeed, it's the same for journalists. I needed years of recovery from the burn out that prevented me to keep being a China correspondent (for one of the biggest newswires and blablabla, the old ego trick) to become able to accept that, even if I knew it rationally since my teenage, as I already thought about it, once we are on that prestigious shoes, something emotional happens inside us and, almost without noticing, we mistake ourselves with our social role and prestige. I think our own-validation shouldn't be on what we do, but already on what we are, but once we touch some flavour of prestige, well, it's not always inmediately easy to get back to remember who you really are.
I also wanted to add that I always liked this daoist vision of the auspicious moment for doing or not doing, so deepfully ingrained in the Chinese traditional mentality. It implies that when the right moment will arise, everything will come naturally, in the eternal evolution and movement of things. You put it beautifully, describing the awareness of our littleness in the great scheme of things, and, indeed, the humble wuwei approach to... kind of, being one with the landscape of our times and personal circumstances, and flow if the wind flows and sit down if the nightsky is still.
Inspiring, beautiful thoughts - and an increased curiosity for LeGuin's Earthsea books, that I'm willing to start reading from some years already. Thanks for your often bright gifts, Helen, it's always a joy to take a calm moment a read you with the slowness I like to give to your thoughts. All the best!
Amen to all of this! I also loved the final book in the Earthsea cycle, written decades after the first three. The way it grapples with helplessness and community is really powerful and good.
I'd not seen the Daoist element before. The books are rich in all sorts of ways, of course, and in the first there is a strong Jungian element, as Ged the student, showing off, releases the shadow-beast that pursues him, and eventually learns from his original teacher on Gont what to do: turn round, pursue IT, rather than run away. So he does, and says it's name (knows its name). and is united with it, made whole.
Then Tehanu is steeped in myth/folktales, including their development in Christianity, where, in the powerful closing scene, the maimed one, the wounded one, is the one sufficiently in touch with transcendent powers to be the saviour. There is dragon-lore, and bird-lore, too!
How comforting knowing your recent musings. Sometimes, we want to contribute and it's not about our personal worth; we know we can help the world so we try our best. When it's time to think for one's own self and how one is to enjoy one's spare time as do retirement, it's not that the world goes on without oneself - it's just to set aside some time for one's own. There'd be so much to do in a lifetime but giving oneself a treat is the only good that only oneself could have done. Thanks again for sharing!
Yes the beauty of retirement is that you can simply be. I know there are logistics (age pyramids etc, how to finance) but I still like very much that it is an option people can take.
I think this is what Ogeon tried to say to GED when he was teaching him the basics of magic on Gont. But young Ged was unable to hear, and it took him many more years and the loss of his magic to learn the lesson. Thanks for posting this, enlightening to me. I also did not know about the final two books after Tehanu so now I have some new reading which I very much look forward to!
What a beautiful, deep insight into the matter. I can say that what is the case for academics, indeed, it's the same for journalists. I needed years of recovery from the burn out that prevented me to keep being a China correspondent (for one of the biggest newswires and blablabla, the old ego trick) to become able to accept that, even if I knew it rationally since my teenage, as I already thought about it, once we are on that prestigious shoes, something emotional happens inside us and, almost without noticing, we mistake ourselves with our social role and prestige. I think our own-validation shouldn't be on what we do, but already on what we are, but once we touch some flavour of prestige, well, it's not always inmediately easy to get back to remember who you really are.
I also wanted to add that I always liked this daoist vision of the auspicious moment for doing or not doing, so deepfully ingrained in the Chinese traditional mentality. It implies that when the right moment will arise, everything will come naturally, in the eternal evolution and movement of things. You put it beautifully, describing the awareness of our littleness in the great scheme of things, and, indeed, the humble wuwei approach to... kind of, being one with the landscape of our times and personal circumstances, and flow if the wind flows and sit down if the nightsky is still.
Inspiring, beautiful thoughts - and an increased curiosity for LeGuin's Earthsea books, that I'm willing to start reading from some years already. Thanks for your often bright gifts, Helen, it's always a joy to take a calm moment a read you with the slowness I like to give to your thoughts. All the best!
Amen to all of this! I also loved the final book in the Earthsea cycle, written decades after the first three. The way it grapples with helplessness and community is really powerful and good.
I'd not seen the Daoist element before. The books are rich in all sorts of ways, of course, and in the first there is a strong Jungian element, as Ged the student, showing off, releases the shadow-beast that pursues him, and eventually learns from his original teacher on Gont what to do: turn round, pursue IT, rather than run away. So he does, and says it's name (knows its name). and is united with it, made whole.
Then Tehanu is steeped in myth/folktales, including their development in Christianity, where, in the powerful closing scene, the maimed one, the wounded one, is the one sufficiently in touch with transcendent powers to be the saviour. There is dragon-lore, and bird-lore, too!
How comforting knowing your recent musings. Sometimes, we want to contribute and it's not about our personal worth; we know we can help the world so we try our best. When it's time to think for one's own self and how one is to enjoy one's spare time as do retirement, it's not that the world goes on without oneself - it's just to set aside some time for one's own. There'd be so much to do in a lifetime but giving oneself a treat is the only good that only oneself could have done. Thanks again for sharing!
Yes the beauty of retirement is that you can simply be. I know there are logistics (age pyramids etc, how to finance) but I still like very much that it is an option people can take.
hear hear
I think this is what Ogeon tried to say to GED when he was teaching him the basics of magic on Gont. But young Ged was unable to hear, and it took him many more years and the loss of his magic to learn the lesson. Thanks for posting this, enlightening to me. I also did not know about the final two books after Tehanu so now I have some new reading which I very much look forward to!
Wonderful piece!