[lit-ideas] Re: Living Philosophically.
- From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:03:18 -0400
Suppose that, instead of mentioning "spiritual interior," Lopez had written
only, "Story-telling is the best protection we have against forgetting who
we are?"
As I get older, I find myself repeating a handful of stories that seem
central to my life and times. Without them who would I be?
Anthropologists' descriptions of other lives and times suggest some
possibilities. Could I be Balinese, in the sense described by Clifford
Geertz, only an avatar in an endless recycling of a handful of primeval
identities? Could I be chaotic, with no interior to speak of, like the
mentally ill residents of a shelter in Boston, described by Robert DeJarlais
in a book called *Shelter Blues, *so mired in the moment and its needs that
"me" gets totally lost? What about being a member of the Japanese Imperial
Family, the latest moment in a history that disappears into myth?
I suppose one should also ask if story-telling is only a way of preserving
who we become for later recollection. Could it not be a way of breaking out
and moving on to something new?
It's hot here in northern Virginia. Have survived, even enjoyed quite a bit
of, another day with the grandkids. But the second beer has fuddled my
brain.
Others may have more cogent thoughts.
John
On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 7:17 PM, Mike Geary
<jejunejesuit.geary2@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> "Story-telling is the best protection we have against forgetting the
> spiritual interior of our lives." (Barry Lopez)
>
> Philosophically, what do you think of this quote? Meaningful? A pledge of
> allegiance? Pure bullshit? What could possibly give it
> credence? Personally, I agree with the sentiment, though I don't know what
> "the spiritual interior of our lives" means. In an affective kind of way,
> it has meaning to me. But does it hold up to logical analysis? I've never
> been very good at logic, my wants are much stronger than my thoughts.
>
> What think ye?
>
>
> Mike Geary
> Physically if philosophically still in Memphis
>
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--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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