Wendell Berry said, “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” I’m working through this, and my thoughts wash back and forth… as they should. Spending time with someone’s statement, masticating it, that’s how you come to be wise. I would be a fool to discount his statement off-hand, and…
Category: Beauty Qua Beauty
Living a Wonder Full Life
Walking through the eucalyptus woods near me, not only do I see the eucalyptus trees (which were planted for fast-growing firewood, back when steam engines ruled the West) that could provide me with foraged eucalyptus oil (which is, of course, excellent for clearing out the lungs, and has many other benefits as well), I see banks of nasturtiums (seeds can be used as capers, leaves and flowers spicy and edible, a good trap plant for aphids) in the springtime, and even the sowthistle I now know can be part of a nutritious dinner. I drive by plant after plant, and the more you know – the more you know. You see food, fiber, poison, healing, … et cetera. One’s eyes open. You live a more wonder full life.
Leaving Laodicea
Leaving Laodicea includes practical tips on how to regenerate community, start communities from scratch, or join existing communities. It encourages you to examine your values, use beauty as a weapon against mass distraction, and build a life that satisfies, something you can truly call “home”.
Why You Don’t Know How to Plan Your Wardrobe
Why don’t you know how to plan your wardrobe? Because you’ve never been taught. And not only have you never been taught how to plan a wardrobe, you haven’t been taught any of the sub-skills you’d need to get there. Since you can’t plan your wardrobe, you can’t budget your clothing expenses. Since you can’t plan your wardrobe, you’re at the mercy of snap decisions. Since you haven’t planned your wardrobe, you spend money on clothes that don’t fit in with your lifestyle or goals. Your lack of skill in this area makes you a great consumer – from the vendor’s point of view.
Why do we fear Beauty?
Why do we fear Beauty? Because Beauty points us to God. Beauty is a window to the transcendent. It stops you, affects you, speaks to your heart. Beauty is dangerous. Beauty is not prettiness. Prettiness is decorative. Beauty is more. What’s the difference? It’s the difference between standing on a hillside watching a sunset with…
What is a Status Symbol?
What is a status symbol? It is an item which you value because you own it, not because you use it. Let’s unpack that… We determine an item’s value based on a number of concrete factors including the cost of materials, the cost of the labor (which includes both expertise and number of people-hours), and…
Leaving Laodicea
Coming October 1, 2023 Laodicea is a worldview that values the rat-race over connection. It’s a physical location that makes it hard to participate in community even if we want to. Laodicea has its hooks in all of us. We know that what we’re doing isn’t working. We read the statistics about loneliness being more…
Emerging from the Chrysalis
Emerging from the chrysalis, the butterfly is weak, her wings wet. In the struggle to exit the chrysalis, the wings are strengthened, but she must still sit and fan them, slowly drying them and expanding them to their full potential. She knows herself to be transformed, but yet is not ready to fly. It comes…
Creating Beauty
Creating beauty requires love, skill, and craftsmanship. Displaying beauty well requires a good eye, appreciation, and adequate raw materials. Copying beauty without keeping its essence requires none of the above. What is beauty? Half my library is devoted to this discussion. We all know beauty when we see it, but pinning it down is problematic….
Beauty vs. Making a Statement
There is a very excellent house in my neighborhood. This house sits on a corner lot between two busy-ish streets. Many a house in such a setting goes for privacy, quiet. But not this house, oh no. The house is yellow, with purple trim – and the picket fence around the house is purple too….