Homemaking and art? That’s woman’s work as far as my generation is concerned. Progress is being made on that front by each of the generations that are following me, but art and homemaking? That would have branded me a “pussy.” In fact, it still does with men and women closer to my generation. Being taken care of financially by a woman? Pussy!
Reading: Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici 📚
The definition of women as demonic beings, and the atrocious and humiliating practices to which many of them were subjected left indelible marks in the collective female psyche and in women’s sense of possibilities.
From yesterday and today…
My art photography is a spiritual devotion to seeing. Daily meditative walks are the backbone of it. Insight develops over time.
Reading: Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici 📚
I only want to stress that by denying women control over their bodies, the state deprived them of the most fundamental condition for physical and psychological integrity and degraded maternity to the status of forced labor…
As I read the remarkable parallels between the Middle Ages and the present moment I wonder what bigger than we realize thing is at work.
Reading: Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici 📚
The criminalization of women’s control over procreation is a phenomenon whose importance cannot be overemphasized, both for the viewpoint of its effects on women and the consequences for the capitalist organization of work.
You’d be forgiven if you thought this was about the present moment in the USA. It’s actually about the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
From this morning’s walk…
Folding laundry is a mindfulness practice as far as I am concerned. Cooking is a spiritual practice of deep devotion, and feeding someone a profound act of love. Doing it daily is a devotional practice of love.
From this morning’s walk…
To come to a place of mutual trust and respect is the mother of all sacred places. It is only from this place that we can help one another to reach his or her greatest potential.
Also note that we aren’t even talking yet about ruthless people using scientific institutions to gain money and power, the corruption of science by corporate and state interests, the entrenched dogmas, ideologies, etc., or the persecution of “heretics” who dare questioning orthodoxy or—gasp!—writing their own blogs outside the institutions. And still, even without all that, the picture looks mind-bogglingly bad.
I am one of those few people who actually enjoys homemaking. Certainly, I am one of that even rarer species, a cisgender man who actually enjoys housework.
From past couple of days…
_Life interrupted _
If God wore a hat
_It rained last night _
Sacred is a human construct. The universe, except through us or any other intelligent creatures there may be, does not make distinctions about what can and can’t be violated.
We invent words like sacred and violate to share our hopes, fears and desires with one another. And, unfortunately, the violations we were most concerned about when we first identified the concept, are those that we all too readily perpetrate on one another.
Barry is back! HBO!
Curing salmon again…
I can find no reason to believe there is judgment involved in this churning of matter and energy in space over time. The universe is indifferent to what you and I perceive as the consequences of this churning. Stuff happens.
From yesterday afternoon…
From this morning’s walk…
My dog Fiona adores me!
This is the kind of thing that baffles me. Obvious care was taken to place the empty can in a particular spot. Why not take just a little more care and get it to a trash can?
From this morning’s walk…
A Humanist Concept of Sacred :: Essays On Attention Paid
This is an inquiry into a non-religious, or humanist concept of sacred and whether such a concept is meaningful without connection to a religious belief system derived from a higher power.
Reading: Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici 📚
I am about 1/3 of the way through this book and can absolutely recommend it. It’s slow going for me only because it is dense with information that I want to remember. I find myself underlining half the text (I have a physical copy, do not buy the Kindle version which is garbage). It’s about the rise of capitalism in the aftermath of feudalism with a particular focus on how women were affected.
From this morning’s walk…
