a thought for the new year
Dec 28, 2021 12:32:01 GMT -7
Black Hand, brokennock, and 3 more like this
Post by spence on Dec 28, 2021 12:32:01 GMT -7
My goodwife and I raised three sons, and they all grew into admirable men with a good head on their shoulders. This musing from the oldest might resonate with some here.
“It seems to me that, in a preposterous way, human culture has been re-formed by it’s own technologies. When we had only natural materials for our sustenance we lived close to nature and relied on our own ingenuity, and in each other, more as a community. Today our daily thoughts, beliefs and outlooks revolve around money, iPods and HDTV. The pursuit of these material things dictates how our time is spent and where our interests and efforts lie. We have become a very self-centered society and dwell on how to get more things rather than enjoying the simple satisfaction of working directly to meet the needs of the family and community. Simple, honest work like raising a garden, sewing clothing or cutting firewood has merits we have almost entirely forgotten as a people. The casual conversation while working together served as a connection between us that seems lost forever in our individual, lonely and nearly obsessive pursuits. When you work in a garden you are necessarily out of doors. Feeling the world around you, through the weather and the sights and sounds of natural things provides a lasting tranquility. Even something small like a glimpse of a hummingbird, or the smell of a persimmon reduces our stress and reminds us instinctually of the natural world where we ultimately continue to reside."
Keith Spencer, winter of 2007
Spence
“It seems to me that, in a preposterous way, human culture has been re-formed by it’s own technologies. When we had only natural materials for our sustenance we lived close to nature and relied on our own ingenuity, and in each other, more as a community. Today our daily thoughts, beliefs and outlooks revolve around money, iPods and HDTV. The pursuit of these material things dictates how our time is spent and where our interests and efforts lie. We have become a very self-centered society and dwell on how to get more things rather than enjoying the simple satisfaction of working directly to meet the needs of the family and community. Simple, honest work like raising a garden, sewing clothing or cutting firewood has merits we have almost entirely forgotten as a people. The casual conversation while working together served as a connection between us that seems lost forever in our individual, lonely and nearly obsessive pursuits. When you work in a garden you are necessarily out of doors. Feeling the world around you, through the weather and the sights and sounds of natural things provides a lasting tranquility. Even something small like a glimpse of a hummingbird, or the smell of a persimmon reduces our stress and reminds us instinctually of the natural world where we ultimately continue to reside."
Keith Spencer, winter of 2007
Spence
