Quarantined Qontemplative

3/31/20

My dear pal Travis sent me this ‘Author’s Note’ last month and these words has been stuck between my eyes ever since. The questions raised by the author, Eric Sloane, expose America’s shine for anything new and forgetfulness of anything past. In the loss of differentiation between nostalgia and remembrance, appreciation and contentment is lost. I think it will do us all well to meditate on these words and remember what we are aiming at and the values that uphold that vision. I believe this is a season for collective remembrance and repentance for the trajectory of our pursuits, both the follies and the wins that brought us to this day.

Author’s Note from The Seasons of America Past by Eric Sloane:

“Nostalgia, it has been said, is a great American disease.  Yet an appraisal of the past need not be nostalgic.  True nostalgia is “homesickness,” and even the most ardent antiquarian would not so yearn for the past as to want to return completely.  In the speeding world, the faster we travel, the farther back we leave our past.  We soon find ourselves using all our powers to “keep up with things,” and looking backward at all has become a lost art.  Even beholding and evaluating the present becomes difficult.

We have actually come to believe today that we must either progress or retrogress.  Each season of existence should be an entirely new one, according to twentieth-century thinking, and there is no such thing as intelligently remaining stationary.  Next year’s things, we assume, must necessarily be improvement on this year’s, and to want anything but the newest, brands us as quaint.

Contentment too is considered a bogey in this century.  Eugene O’Neill voices this modern opinion, saying, “One should be either sad or joyful.  Contentment is a warm sty for eaters and sleepers.”  How different was America two centuries ago when Benjamin Franklin declared that “Contentment is the philosopher’s stone that turns all it touches into gold!”
We often observe that great-grandfather had a knack of enjoying himself that we seem to have lost.  It might be that his “seasons for fun” were more independent from his “seasons for work” than ours are today.  It might be, too, that he devoted himself more completely to the moment.

That great American privilege and aim, the “pursuit of happiness,” originally involved a now almost obsolete use of the word “happiness.”  Then it meant “blessedness,” or “a state of satisfaction or contentment,” but now it suggests fun.  The “pursuit of happiness” which we accept as an American heritage is, it seems, too often mistaken for a pursuit of fun.  I am alarmed as I agree with Carl Sandburg that “Never was a generation…told by a more elaborate system of the printed word, billboards, newspapers, magazines, radio, television–to eat more, play more, have more fun.”  This, we are led to believe, is an American way, and a recipe for contentment.  Yet the time for fun and the time for contentment were two very different seasons in great-grandfather’s mind; and he fared fabulously well with both.

I am indeed grateful for the good things of this age, yet I feel there were certain things of the past which were good and unimprovable, many of which have become lost.  It is both my lot and pleasure to look backward, to search the yesterdays for such carelessly discarded wealth.  I am forever thankful for living at a time when may of the marks of early American still exist, before that fast-approaching time when they will all have disappeared into a far different landscape.

America, the richest nation in the world, has managed to be the most wasteful.  We will be the first to admit this, and there is even pride in or voice.  We spend our way into prosperity and out of recessions so that thrift is regarded a way of the past.  Across our nation at present is written a record of land wastefulness never equaled in the history of the world.  Land is “improved” by destroying it and building over the waste.  We always forgive ourselves with the ready excuse that we can afford wastefulness.  But there is always a reckoning, and even now we begin to wonder.  We might wonder hat other wasteful ways of everyday life have also become Americanisms.

The lost seasons of early America may sound like vanished trifles, but in a confused age when the most patriotic American must sometimes grope for words to explain his heritage, or to define “Americana,” any material which contributes to a better understanding of our past is invaluable, and it is often the apparently small details which contributes most.
The American heritage, as I see it, is grounded in the freedom and expression of the individual, and individual freedom, I maintain, was a fresher spirit a century or two ago.  Individual expression was likewise richer.  I believe that freedom becomes stale and expression becomes poor without constant appraisal.

In this age of “arms races” and “space conquest,” the simple, basic philosophy of our past is too often ignored; and when the study of the past is mistaken for nostalgia, beware!”

3/30/20

I find myself listening to a lot more music in my quarantined condition. Which also means that my daughter wants me to dance with her constantly (which means that I pick her up and fling her around while she does gravity defying acrobatic twirls). My favored fashion of listening to music is distinctly out of fashion. I love listening to albums from the first track all the way through. The pleasure of riding the arc of a complete album is a joy that I worry is being lost by generations of artists pumping out singles. These singles typically dry up and decay because they are empty carbs not worth feeding my chicken. So stepping off my soapbox I find this article on the pleasures of listening to an entire album. You don’t need to read it, but I hope you are inspired to play a favorite album from top to bottom with no other intention than to listen deeply. I recommend Greg Brown’s Further In, J.S. Ondara’s Tales of America, Gillian Welch’s Harrow and the Harvest, Jeffrey Foucault’s Blood Brothers or Gregory Alan Iskav’s Evening Machines. I’m a sucker for a songwriter that spins a yarn from tale to tune.

3/29/20

My friend from afar Christa Hesselink curates the soulful site, soulplay.ca. A kindred spirit to the Contemplify camp. She offers grounded practices and insights for the spiritual seeker at play in the world in troubled times.

3/28/20

It is nice to see a family quarantined together, sing together. And if you are like most folks your news diet is a heavier than necessary. This song will help you lighten your portion. Fair warning…the message of this tune is appropriate for kids, but one of the lyrics is not.

3/27/20

This seven minute short film is mesmerizing in its simplicity. A man at work at his craft. A labor that demands slowness and persistent attention to detail. A day segmented by ritual and without fanfare. To me, it describes the work of a contemplative in the world. Apparently it also describes the work of a punchcutter.

3/26/20

Put down your cereal. Actually finish your cereal and when you’ve eaten the last spoonful, wash your bowl, take a breath, and turn your attention to this marvelous guided Heartfelt Meditation. If you are feeling nervous, anxious, or afraid about the pandemic…this meditation is for you. It is a stirring practice for opening your heart to the pleasant presence of the present tense abiding in God in times such as these. This meditation is lead by Fr. Adam Bucko and featuring music from Katrina Tovington and Larry Tremsky. This practice is for those new to contemplative practice as well as the grizzled veterans with calloused knees from long and labored prayer. This is put out by the fine folks at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

3/25/20

In times of quarantine I find it helpful to have something to look forward to. Well, for the right kind of music aficionado I may have just the ticket. One of my two favorite pearl-snapped Midwestern songwriters is going to be flipping a switch inside his home to play a concert this Sunday. You can watch for free, but if you are in a position to throw in a sawbuck or two, I recommend it. Jeffrey Foucault is gonna share his craft with public ears from his private home and donations go to pay his band, crew, and venues who don’t have a steady stream of income given the buzzkill covid-19. My family will be tuning in. We’ll probably dance or at least hop around a bit. I’ll have a pint in the air to salute Foucault at each turn of phrase that makes me well up with emotion. Head over to Jeffrey Foucault’s website to learn more about the show:

“This Sunday (3/29), at 8pm eastern time (USA), I’ll play a show from the relative comfort of my home, where the guitars are plentiful, and I happen to know the bartender.” 

3/24/20

A few words on the importance of contemplative practice. If you have a practice, I hope you continue it. If you don’t have a practice I hope this will inspire you wander out to the forest and find which branch of the tree of contemplative practices might call to you.

“We are beginning to recover a sense that the simple act of gazing, of paying attention—one of the most ancient and enduring ways of understanding contemplative practice–can open up a space in the soul, a space in which the world may live and move in us. And that we are being called to renew our commitment to this work–for the sake of the world.”

Douglas E. Christie, The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology, p. 69

It is hard for me to imagine being quarantined for a long stretch of time. Any length of deep solitude has been voluntary on my part. What would it be like to be confined to a small space for a month? A year? Multiple years? I can’t fathom it. Julian of Norwich walled herself in for two decades. Shaka Senghor was incarcerated and in solitary confinement for 5 years. Five years. Read a snippet of his story and seasoned guidance on practices to calm you in these wild times here.

3/23/20

A friend once pointed out to me that back when I was more present on social media that I rarely posted, and when I did, it seemed to be the same thing. And I posted it every couple of years. It was this video of Mavis Staples, Wilco, and Nick Lowe playing The Band’s song, ‘The Weight’. It is one of my all-time favorite tunes and Mavis owns it on this rendition. If it is worth sharing once, it is worth sharing again. Crank it up to 11.

3/22/20

Letters hold great importance to me. I’ve worsened at the craft as I’ve aged. I could blame email or my sloppy chicken scratch handwriting. But it is a lack of discipline to the art. I was touched by this letter from one physician to another during the Spanish Flu pandemic. A passage from the letter:

We eat it, live it, sleep it, and dream it, to say nothing of breathing it 16 hours a day. I would be very grateful indeed it you would drop me a line or two once in a while, and I will promise you that if you ever get into a fix like this, I will do the same for you.

– Sgt. Roy, Sept 29, 1918

A reminder that we have gone through difficult stretches like these before at great loss and need the encouraging words of one another along the way. You can read the whole letter at the fabulously curated site lettersofnote.com.

Practice: There is no time like a pandemic to write a letter of wistful insight and care to a kindred spirit tucked away in solitude…perhaps a friend, an old teacher, or that cranky neighbor across the way. Whoever you choose, they will be delighted to receive a post from you.

3/21/20

Silas House’s fine essay came to mind about a day he spent with Wendell Berry. He spins the coin of reality, one side facing sorrow and the other tailing love. The first time I heard this essay tears of recognition streamed down my face. Check out The Pain Of Loving You: A Day With Wendell Berry (On the Porch with Silas House)

3/20/20

Stoicism is all the rage these days. The practicality of this school of philosophy is part of its draw. It continually asks the question, how shall I live? It can be easy to relegate philosophy to the academic ivory towers or theoretical somersaults. Ryan Holiday has made it his life’s work to popularize and concretize Stoicism in daily life. Check out his latest article on how the Stoics of yesteryears practiced their philosophy in previous pandemics. In short, real leaders lead by example and embodied solidarity for the sake of the whole. History, as usual, has a lot to teach us in this season of life.