Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for January 27, 2017
Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for January 27, 2017
The January NonRequired Reading List
Friends,
I love beginnings. Starting a book, a contemplative sit, or a whole-hearted conversation...they all begin with the fullness of possibility. Therefore it comes as no surprise that a New Year embodies this same sense of a fresh beginning for me. But this feeling of newness also arrives each morning, and poetry was the gateway. I consider myself lucky to have had my bell rung by the poem “The Life of a Day” by Tom Hennen many years ago, which begins,
Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks which can easily be seen if you look closely.
Hennen invokes the ‘this-ness’ of each thing and then proceeds to illustrate the mundane trap that many us fall into of waiting for perfected version to arrive.
We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, no, this isn’t one I’ve been looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for the next, when we are convinced, our lives will start for real.
The entire poem is worth committing to memory. To my eyes, it's an issue of attention. Where our attention lies, our energy flows. I face my own snares of distraction and lethargy that rush in when my attention goes astray. This too is an invitation to release and begin again. If your attention, like mine, needs a tune up each morning so the shine of the day can seep into your being I offer a few reading materials that might help with that intention.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
"Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love— is the sum of what you focus on” writes Georgetown University Professor Cal Newport. This book holds value in both the philosophical (busyness as a proxy for productivity and meaning) and practical approach (quitting social media, ignoring the barrage of emails -- like this one!). This comes as no surprise to those seeking a more contemplative way of being in the world, yet when we look at our lives we see how easily distractions storm the boundaries of our attention. If you have checked your phone for texts or Facebook notifications while reading this paragraph, this book is for you.
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
This completely original book examines forty imaginings of the afterlife. Eagleman playfully teases out some of the most well-worn philosophical questions in bite-size chapters. Each chapter examines a possible afterlife, one where God’s favorite book is Shelley’s Frankenstein (finally a piece of literature God can relate to), another where the afterlife is simply being a background actor in the dreams of the living, and the first chapter (the most poignant in my opinion) where the afterlife is simply reliving our earthly life one task at a time (18 days staring into a refrigerator, 51 days deciding what to wear, 2 months clipping our nails, etc...and a mere 14 minutes experiencing pure joy). You will chuckle, sigh and wrestle with the underlying themes of these stories.
How to Live Without Irony (2012) and How to Live Without Irony (for Real, This Time) (2016) by Christy Wampole (New York Times)
In Wampole’s 2012 articles she writes, “If irony is the ethos of our age — and it is — then the hipster is our archetype of ironic living...the ironic life is certainly a provisional answer to the problems of too much comfort, too much history and too many choices, but it is my firm conviction that this mode of living is not viable and conceals within it many social and political risks.” The lack of seriousness in our culture bred a focus on frivolity (which distracts us from worthwhile action), creating a vortex of inaction we could not sustain. This empty space of meaninglessness must be filled, and it is sincere leaders whether or not they embody the good, the true and the beautiful will hold this post. This appears true today. In her 2016 piece, Wampole points to the manner in which we evolve towards a good kind of seriousness, a new consciousness budding in younger generations and the movements of today. I read this as a rallying cry to focus on deep work, meaningful risk, and a sincere seriousness to move the needle towards the good, the true and the beautiful.
“Quiet” (by MILCK, performed by flash mob at Women’s March)
Last and certainly not least, watch this rendition of “Quiet” from the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Words do little to explain my response to this song. Watch it and then watch it again. A fierce and timely song that has become a part of my household’s soundtrack.
Contemplify Update
The two most recent episodes of Contemplify…
019: Voicemail – Seeing the World Through a Lens of Awe: Brie Stoner on Pablo Neruda
018: The Past Has Arms: Risking Relationship with Ourselves So We Can Grow Up with James Hollis, PhD
Next on Contemplify…
020: A Syllabus for Newfound Seriousness with Christy Wampole
Christy Wampole is an assistant professor in the department of French and Italian at Princeton, and the author of “Rootedness: The Ramifications of a Metaphor” and “The Other Serious: Essays for the New American Generation.” She has also written for the New York Times and the New Yorker.
This is the next episode available from Contemplify through these fine outlets: iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean, Overcast or Google Play
Listen well + read often,
Paul
Contemplify.com
Kindling the Examined Life
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