Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

The Gift of Quiet

Sheila Prichard offers a few reflections on a book that I have on my shelf, but have yet to read – Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. It is part of my reading around Melancholy – one of the four temperaments of personality (cf. Claudius Galen (c.129-201 CE). Both melancholy (in my experience) and the quieter, more thoughtful and introverted personality types have come in for a lot of criticism (grounded, of course, in significant misunderstanding) in our contemporary Western Culture. Yet, I’m increasingly aware of the incredible depth and richness that these personality characteristics make possible in a healthy introvert. I brought Quiet because I warmed to its author’s central theses. She appeared to me to be saying something important and needful particularly if, in your life stage (post-midlife, post … [fill in the blank]) you’re an introvert and trying to recover a rich and deep sense of self, of who you are, and of why you need to be more your truest, healthiest and deepest self.

You’ll find Sheila’s post here.

Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, Susan Cain’s TED talk is one of Bill Gates’ “favourite 13 TED talks”.

First Comes Love: A Documentary

This was a fascinating radio interview. An interview with New York filmmaker Nina Davenport. I’d love to see the film; but sadly, not always easy down here at the bottom of the world.

“…The film taps into the zeitgeist topic of how the modern family is being re-imagined in the early twenty-first century. They say it takes a village to raise a child. In Nina’s case, that village is populated by urban sophisticates who have delayed procreation for as long as possible and are late in confronting its joys and chores. Nina is unflinching at exposing her inner and outer self as a case study. She’s refreshingly frank and funny about the trials that women endure [including issue with men] in order to get pregnant, give birth and manage the early years of parenting…” – Thom Powers.

Finding Your Voice; Your Sense of Who You Are

Via Chris Erdman’s blog I came across this fascinating online article on “Finding One’s Voice” written by Todd Henry. 

It’s titled: Ten Questions That Will Help You Find Your Voice. 

They’re great questions; ones I’ve been using as I reflect on my own life and life-journey. Isn’t interesting that “anger” is the focus of the first question…?

Here’s the first three. You’ll find the rest here. 

“Here are a few questions that may help uncover clues to your voice. Set aside some time with a notebook or journal to reflect on each: 

1. What angers you? Every super hero needs a bad guy. Without one, the super hero has nothing to fight against. Are there specific things that evoke a compassionate anger in you? (Key point of differentiation: this is not about road rage, poor service, or leaving the seat up. We’re talking about the systemic things that evoke a desire to intervene in a situation as an act of compassion or to rectify a great wrong.)
2. What makes you cry? Think about the last several instances that caused you to cry. Movies are fair game too. I’ve noticed that I almost always tear up while watching stories of underdogs who overcome incredible odds. This is a clue to me that my greatest work may somehow involve fighting for those who are oppressed or unheard. (Hence…we call AC “freedom fighters for the creative class.”)
3. What have you mastered? Are there tasks, skills, or opportunities that you have simply mastered and can do without thinking? These low-friction activities might give you a clue to ways you can continue pursuing your voice. We learn through action, observation, then and correction. Start with what you do well, and work your way toward your goal…”

The Inner History of a Day

 




No one knew the name of this day;


Born quietly from deepest night,


It hid its face in light,


Demanded nothing for itself,


Opened out to offer each of us
.

A field of brightness that traveled ahead,


Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps


And the light of thought to show the way.




The mind of the day draws no attention;


It dwells within the silence with elegance


To create a space for all our words,


Drawing us to listen inward and outward.




We seldom notice how each day is a holy place


Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,


Transforming our broken fragments


Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.




Somewhere in us a dignity presides


That is more gracious than the smallness


That fuels us with fear and force,


A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.




So at the end of this day, we give thanks


For being betrothed to the unknown


And for the secret work


Through which the mind of the day


And wisdom of the soul become one.




 

~ John O’Donohue ~

Learning to Breathe with Chris Erdman

As noted yesterday, today, more from Chris Erdman. A podcast conversation in which he and the show’s host talk about “…about his overlapping roles as pastor and father. He also shares about the pain of divorce, the joy of a new marriage, and the spiritual depth to be found in the daily tasks of parenting."

The show's blurb notes that: 

"The Rev. Dr. Chris Neufeld-Erdman is the senior pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Fresno,CA. He is the father of two young adult sons, and three adult step-daughters. He is the author of several books, an accomplished speaker, an adjunct seminary professor, and an oblate at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur..."

You can listen to, or download the podcast here.

Sigur Ros - Brimstone

Icelandic band Sigur Ros, one of the most enchanting, visceral and creative bands I listen to, have a new album out in June 2013. It’s titled Kveikur and features the following song – ‘Brennisteinn’ (‘Brimstone’) - very raw, a lot of energy, and a very different sound. I love it, and the video is awesome.

Also, watch them live on the Jimmy Fallon TV show, which aired 22nd March 2013 and featured the title track of the new album. A soaring, beautiful soundscape.

Here’s Brennisteinn live

Built By Stories

Francis Spufford wrote a wonderful little book: The Child that Books Built: A Memoir of Childhood and Reading (pub. 2002). While Christopher Book wrote a large book titled The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories (pub. 2004). Both are deeply insightful, the latter reflecting on stories from a particularly Jungian perspective on the universal nature of stories and why we tell and read them. 

All my life I’ve loved stories; I’ve immersed myself in them, whether by way of books, film, live drama, or storytellers. Stories shape and form us; they challenge us and invite change and growth; they console us. While having value in and of themselves, they do a whole more. For better or worse, I’m an adult that stories built. I’m adult that continues to be changed and formed by stories. I’ve been formed consciously and unconsciously by my own stories and by the stories and perspectives of others. Some of that formation has been helpful, some hasn’t, and at times in our lives we need to find, tell, and listen carefully to new stories.

Most recently I was reading from a book The Examined Life: How We Find And Lose Ourselves (pub. 2013). It’s a book written by psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz. The inside flap tells its readers that “We are all storytellers – we make stories to make sense of our lives. But it is not enough to tell tales. There must be someone to listen… this… book is about one ordinary process: talking, listening and understanding… These are stories about our everyday lives: they are about the people we love and the lies we tell; the changes we bear, and the grief. Ultimately, they show us not only how we lose ourselves but how we might find ourselves also.” 

New Zealand Medical Doctor, poet and storyteller Glen Colquhoun reflects “no story worth being told ever stands still or lies in a book all silent and neat. It wriggles into your eyes and ears and turns over in your belly and mouth. If it is quiet for a while it is only because it is growing, like a seed… [Stories] are that part of us we pass onto each other like treasure and are alive no matter how long it has been since we heard them. If we lend them our voices and our faces then in a little while they look like us…” 

On Being, a US Radio show, recently featured Maria Tatar talking about why fairytales are for adults again. 

Here’s the promo for the show: 

“Fairy tales don't only belong to the domain of childhood. Their overt themes are threaded throughout hit TV series like Game of Thrones and True Blood, Grimm and Once Upon a Time. These stories survive, says Maria Tatar, by adapting across cultures and history. They are carriers of the plots we endlessly re-work in the narratives of our lives -- helping us work through things like fear and hope.” 

You can listen to the conversation here. 

Thinking About the Future

I was talking about this video clip last week (now updated in 2012 with new information and soundtrack). I haven’t seen it for a few years, but it remains very thought provoking…

Relaxing: Learning to Trust

I’ve been noticing hawks these last few weeks, so this resonated, not least because it was Denise Levertov: 

“As swimmers dare
 to lie face to the sky 
and water bears them, 
 as hawks rest upon air 
and air sustains them, 
so would I learn to attain 
free fall, and float 
into Creator Spirit's deep embrace, 
knowing no effort earns 
that all-surrounding grace.”


- Denise Levertov, The Avowal.

Gratitude Beyond Loss

Today, a blend – a mixing together if two different, but for me, related things

“…We receive and we lose, and we must try to achieve gratitude; and with that gratitude to embrace with whole hearts whatever of life that remains after the losses…”

- Andre Dubus II, Broken Vessels.

And, Thom Yorke: