We watched this movie as part of our Summer Outdoor Series. I hadn’t seen it in forever, so a lot of it felt new to me.
People usually recite two quotes:
It is NOT a tumor!
Boys have penises, and girls have vaginas!
And I learned a new one:
You’re not so tough without your car, are ya?
That might be my favorite one.
This was the last assignment in my non-hard French class. We had just finished studying Montaigne, and the assignment was to write an essay on one of the many subjects about which he wrote. I decided to write about solitude. It’s hard to complain about a less-than-perfect score when the grader says he loved it, AND I failed to follow directions yet again when I used only one quotation instead of two. Oops. I can be such a doofus sometimes. An A is an A, right? I really enjoyed writing this one. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Il y a un arbre dans un désert lointain. Rien ne le dérange. Il est bien.
Mais, est-il heureux?
Un jour, une araignée seule trouve l’arbre et y grimpe à l’arbre. Elle fait une grande toile d’araignée dans les branches. L’arbre pense que la toile est très belle; elle chatoie sous le clair de lune. L’arbre se sent utile en protégeant l’araignée contre le soleil et les orages de sable. Néanmoins, l’arbre n’a pas besoin de cette araignée pour survivre. Ils ne sont pas amis. Vraiment, est-ce que l’arbre est heureux ?
Certaines personnes aiment avoir beaucoup d’amis. Par contre, d’autres personnes ont peu d’amis. Pourtant, certaines personnes préfèrent souvent la solitude. Il faut décider quel genre de personnes nous sommes. La plus vite on le sait, le mieux notre vie sera.
Comment est-ce qu’on fait cela ? Il y a trop de bruit dans le monde. Des milliards de personnes habitent ici, et leurs cerveaux sont plein de pensées superficielles. Personne ne s’écoute, alors personne ne se comprend. Leurs esprits sont très distraits. Comment trouve-t-on la solitude? Pourquoi est-ce qu’elle est importante?
Au XIXe siècle, l’Américain, Henry David Thoreau, a habité dans une forêt pendant deux ans, deux mois, et deux semaines. Tout seul, il a pensé et a écrit des essais. Il a prié et a médité. Bien qu’il habitait seul, sa mère faisait quand même sa lessive. C’est vrai ! Il était adulte, mais sa « maman » le traitait comme un enfant.
Il a dit, « I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers ». Aujourd’hui, on ne peut pas habiter pendant deux ans dans la forêt sans travail, sans responsabilité. Pourtant, on peut trouver la solitude dans une foule, comme on peut trouver le silence au milieu du bruit.
J’ai habité à New York City pendant six ans et demi. Il y a beaucoup de personnes, et certaines d’entre elles sont très impolies. En plus, c’est tellement bruyant. C’est très facile de se sentir solitaire parmi des millions d’étrangers. Dans un métro plein de personnes, si je voulais être seule, je fermais les yeux, ignorais tout le monde et respirais profondément plusieurs fois. Je me suis toujours rappelée de respirer. C’était comme une prière.
L’araignée établit une relation passive avec l’arbre, mais on n’est pas comme l’araignée. Comme l’arbre, on a besoin de buts, de se sentir utile, mais contrairement à l’arbre, on n’est pas une créature passive. Les relations entre les gens sont dynamiques, puisqu’elles impliquent diverses émotions et des personnalités différentes. Parce qu’il y a beaucoup d’éléments humains à considérer en plus de tous les gens, on a besoin de temps pour organiser les pensées de son esprit. Autrement, on deviendrait fou.
Cependant, on doit trouver l’équilibre, parce que trop de solitude ne se satisfait pas. Je ne comprends pas pourquoi Thoreau a passé deux ans seul dans la forêt. C’est bizarre. Il était très intellectuel, et peut-être son intelligence a contribué à son obsession. On a besoin d’amis et de famille. Il faut qu’il y ait l’amour et l’amitié. C’est vrai, il avait sa mère. Je me demande s’il serait rentré plus tôt si sa mère n’a pas fait sa lessive. Alors, est-ce que c’est la solitude ou les vêtements propres que l’ont rendu heureux ? Ou est-ce que c’est la nature ou sa mère ? Et sa mère ? C’est difficile d’être vraiment heureux sans servir les gens. D’ailleurs, j’étais solitaire quand j’ai réalisé cela.
J’aime la solitude. C’est important d’entendre le silence, de récupérer des pensées, de raviver l’esprit. D’un autre côté, c’est aussi important d’établir des relations avec les autres. C’est pareil.
L’arbre est resté en compagnie de l’araignée plusieurs mois. Il y avait du vent, et il a ramassé l’araignée et l’a emportée au milieu du désert, où le soleil l’a lézardée jusqu’à ce qu’elle meurt. La toile s’est désintégrée et le vent l’a enterrée dans le sable jusqu’à ce qu’elle disparaisse. À nouveau, l’arbre est seul. Mais, ça ne signifie pas qu’il n’est pas heureux.
Est-il heureux ?
Mais non ! Ne soyez pas fou. C’est un arbre.
“It is a weakening and discoloring idea, that rustic people knew God personally once upon a time – or even knew selflessness or courage or literature – but that it is too late for us. In fact, the absolute is available to everyone in every age. There never was a more holy age than ours, and never a less.
“There is no less holiness at this time – as you are reading this – than there was the day the Red Sea departed, or that day in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Chebar, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree by your street than there was under the Buddha’s bo tree. There is no whit less might in heaven or on earth than there was the day Jesus said “Maid, arise” to the centurion’s daughter, or the day Peter walked on water, or the night Mohammed flew to heaven on a horse. In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may arise, or you may see a bunch of souls in a tree. In any instant you may avail yourself of the power to love your enemies; to accept failure, slander, or the grief of loss; or to endure torture.
“Purity’s time is always now. Purity is no social phenomenon, a cultural thing whose time we have missed, whose generations are dead, so we can only buy Shaker furniture. ‘Each and every day the Divine Voice issues from Sinai,’ says the Talmud. Of eternal fulfillment, Tillich said, ‘If it is not seen in the present, it cannot be seen at all.’
“[Joel Goldsmith] says that God has nothing to give you that he is not giving you right now. That all people at all times may avail themselves of this God, and those who are aware of it know no fear, not even fear of death. ‘God’ is the awareness of the infinite in each of us.”
– Annie Dillard, For the Time Being
I cannot get over the way this woman writes and thinks.
Last Week: “Yeah, but urine is sterile anyway.”
Today: “I want to kick him in the balls.”
ETA: This article that the Slate‘s Explainer posted today.
I’m always interested in the origins and evolutions of words and phrases. Last week in French we learned about the pronoun en. So I asked, “D’où est l’expression Je m’en fiche?” And then another classmate followed up with asking about J’en ai marre. Both are expressions of fed-upness. They can mean something very-not-nice at all, depending on intent. The professor waited until after the lecture to explain it to us in English. Yay.
or to a goody two-shoes trying to be sexy:
You put the “Provo” in provocative.
“Mirrors are wonderful things. They appear to tell the truth, to reflect life back out at us; but set a mirror correctly and it will lie so convincingly you’ll believe that something has vanished into thin air, that a box filled with doves and flags and spiders is actually empty, that people hidden in the wings or the pit are floating ghosts upon the stage. Angle it right and a mirror becomes a magic casement; it can show you anything you can imagine and maybe a few things you can’t.”
–Neil Gaiman
This would have been a perfect introduction to the movie Becky and I made. But I saw Coraline this past Saturday, and I hadn’t yet read a lick of Neil Gaiman, and I stared vacantly at the stack of graphic novels in the bookstore, and I had no idea where to begin. I started to call Sarah, because she knows our good friend, Brian, who is a hardcore Gaiman fan. I let the phone ring then I hung up and decided against the “comic books” for now. I perused the science fiction/fantasy shelf, and I happened upon a book of “short fictions and illusions,” called Smoke and Mirrors.
I love the short stuff. I know I’ve said that before.
The quote about mirrors? Part of the introduction.
What I thought of Coraline? Fits in perfectly with what he said about mirrors.
My experience with working with mirrors and telling a story in making that video with Becky? I kind of get it now.
Becky burned all of our work onto a DVD and gave it to me yesterday. I’m going to go watch that right now.
1. “The sensual man conforms thoughts to things; the poet conforms things to his thoughts.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
I like this. It perfectly presents the poet’s process so succinctly. It ties and tucks his thoughts into a neat niche. It brings to my brain a few of my poet pals who absolutely astound me. They know who they are. I know they are brilliant.
2. “There is a special sense of urgency infusing itself into many Church members everywhere that says, quietly, but insistently—this is the time for us to choose! It is not just that God will insist that we choose for our own sake, but that those who depend upon us, or use us as a reference point, need and deserve to know which way we are going. It is no good posing as a lifeguard if one is a non-swimmer. It is no good being a guide if one leaves his post and wanders with the multitude in search of another way, ‘for there is none other way,’ especially at a time when there is a sharper and sharper divergence in the way of the world and the straight and narrow way. The disciple must not only stand in ‘holy places’ but on holy issues and ‘not be moved.’
“In short, the events of our time and spiritual decay in the world have produced for us the equivalent situation faced by many of the disciples who followed Jesus. They followed him until he began to reach the ‘hard sayings’—the doctrines that really demand not only belief, but performance; doctrines which would distinguish them from their contemporary society. The Lord wants us to put some distance—behaviorally—between ourselves and the world, not because we love mankind less, but precisely because we do love men. It is for the world’s sake that we must sanctify ourselves. When Jesus’ followers faced their moment of truth, John records, ‘From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him,’ Jesus turned to the remainder and queried them, ‘Will ye also go away?'” – Elder Neal A. Maxwell
It my imagination, Emerson and Maxwell are good friends in heaven. Their intelligence and spirituality parallel each other; their souls seem kindred. When I read this quote, it resounded and echoed truth. Its essence clung to me. It’s what I’ve always felt but could never really articulate.
3. “Magnolia’s banana pudding is to die for. Or maybe to fake death for.” – May Anderton
I tried Magnolia’s banana pudding for the first time on Monday. It was kind of a transcendental experience. If I were a poet I’d construct a poem so you could actually taste the pudding as your brain absorbed the words. If banana pudding were the devil, my discipleship would be at high risk. Good thing tasting that pudding was closer to heaven, where Brothers Emerson and Maxwell can help keep me strong. Good thing there are still so many good things, yummy things, beautiful things in this world to enjoy.
A Little Thinking 