CxD #175: But vs And; Polish Sad Poem; Critically Thinking about Critical Race Theory; Zen conversation slots; Profiting off the Dead.
1. Do this exercise:
Instead of saying “I’m in Florida, it’s the middle of the day, I’m done with work, but it’s raining…
See what happens when you say “I’m in Florida, it’s the middle of the day, I’m done with work and it’s raining…
A. so I’m going to bake cookies! 🍪
B. so I’m going to learn how to paint! 🎨
C. so I’m going to read for two blissful hours 📚
D. so I’m going to do yoga 🧘♀️
“But” is a criticism of reality. You’re fighting what is, and what is is way bigger than you. Replace “but” with “and” and (!!!) watch your life unfold with the ease of a flower, full of possibilities. 🌸
“But” is complaining. “And” is living in accordance with how things are.
2.
The Great Poet Basho Begins His Journey
After lengthy preparations
the great poet Basho begins his journey.
The very first day he happens
to walk past a sobbing child
abandoned by his parents.
He leaves him there, by the roadside,
because, he says, such is Heaven’s Will.
He walks on, northwards, toward the snow
and things unseen, unknown.
Slowly the imperfect cities’ sounds grow still,
only streams hold forth chaotically
while white clouds play at nothingness.
He hears an oriole’s song, delicate,
uncertain, like a prayer, like weeping.
—Adam Zagajewski
(translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh)
Adam Zagajewski was one of the most important Polish poets of the past five or six decades; he died on March 21, 2021. His translator, Clare Cavanagh, teaches Slavic Literature at Northwestern University.
3. Race and its complexities is, umm, highly complex. I’m exploring different views about the ways extreme positions about critical race theory create more harm than good. This conversation includes John McWhorter, a professor of linguistics whose ideas I’m beginning to explore; the episode is really worth a listen.
4.
I’m available as a Zen mentor. If you’d like to schedule an appointment during my usual CxD office hours on Thursdays from 7-10pm, click here.
5.
One of the most insightful pieces I read this week is a rumination about how industries profit off the death of poor people. Amazingly, the essay even offers a cure rooted in deep humanity.
“There is money to be made off the dead.”
“The poor are worth more dead than alive.”
“There are horror stories online about the profit trap of dying youngish, poorish, without health care or a will. I invite you to read them. I hadn’t read any at the time. My only familiarity with the subject was the old saying about the IRS, which I now know can be applied to America’s debt-for-profit system writ large: they go after the poor because the rich have money to fight back.”
“If only the con artists and thieves of America’s upper classes would wonder about the dead they’ve profited from.”
Link to the full essay here.
We used this poem a few weeks ago in Zen Writing. It is so tempting to condemn Basho for leaving the child. Would he have done that a second time after hearing the weeping from the bird or did that wake up his compassion? What did the poet think about the great Basho passing by the child? Love afar is spite at home? We drive by the homeless and then send a check to the Congo... or the Wildlife Federation.