Baraka

As we sat by the "big tree," discussing David Abram's book and the connection between an ant, and a human and everything in between, all I thought of a film that I recently got in my possession, Baraka. The title is translated to mean "the thread that weaves life together." The film goes from pan-shots of natural landscapes, to an airfield, to members of the Maasi tribe to animals. There is not a single word spoken, minus some chanting. The point of this film is to show that the world is all connected, no matter where, or who or what we are. I feel like that Abram's would find the film as a spiritual companion of his book, at least up to the point that we have gotten up to.

Abram's stories are written in similar fashion that Dillard's are, and because of such, I felt the same moment of WOW. He has had some crazy life experiences and has a way of words to share them. One of my peers though expressed some discomfort with Abrams though in that he is looking at the world with a universialist view and they felt that it was unfair. They were not happy about the handling of the ants and Abrams experienced it in a less than respectful manner (I am probably not representing this conversation well, but I tried my best). I personally know nothing in depth about religions in that region of the world, so I am not going to comment on it. But I do see the argument that this person present as a valid one.

I have enjoyed the connection that Abrams feels with his surroundings. He seems to understanding of the spirits. His experience of the cave, it would take a special mindset and openness of the surroundings to feel that. On page 22, I thought it was interesting on how he said that we have to escape the way we see things in our modern technological lifestyle and go out and isolate ourselves to see the world for what it is. We will also find ourselves in these moments too. Jack Kerouac wrote once that

“No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.”

This is in complete agreement with when Abrams when he talks about shutting ourselves off to other voices but our own, and the best place to make this separation is in nature, in solitude. I was glad to see some redemption in that he respected the voices of the animals even if he (or we) can not necessarily hear them. We should not rule out the voices that we are not able to hear. It is too ignorant say that they have no voice. We used not to be able to understand outer space, but in 1969 we put a man on the moon. So we should accept there are things we don't understand but still exists.

On page 33, when he talks about the life and the world's life being intertwined, I could not agree more. Our perception on everything comes from us first. Everything we do affects the way we see, read, deal etc. We are the only one who can really understand the world that we experience. No one can truly say that they see the world I do, unless they have experienced everything I have. There might be some overlap but we are all unique. This is expressed later when Abram talks about the life-world and how different cultures = different life-worlds.

It was really interesting to hear Sam and Fabio talk about their journey's post Guilford, especially in comparison to Andrew Breuing (Bru) and the other recent alum (I am blanking on his name). Fabio was able to start with what he wanted to do right out of the gate, even getting a head start while at Guilford. There was a major contrast between what happened with Fabio and Bru. So I thought that was pretty interesting. I have to agree with a good number of my peers on some of the frustration that was expressed from the Sam and Fabio talked. I definitely felt angst even as I have started the job application process only a few weeks ago. It reiterated a lot of what people who I have talked to about jobs have said. When Sam and Fabio talked about the importance of networking, I thought to myself "friend speaks my mind." I have been trying to network like crazy. I am trying to find a job before graduation, so I have a destination of where to go. Where my parents are, I have a distanced relationship with. I have grown up with a messed up version of what home is to me. I frequently don't know where home is for me. So I am hoping that where I find a job after Guilford becomes my home.

I thought what Fabio said about living below your means was really interesting and good advice especially in this economy. This is not the time to be flashy in our lifestyles. I don't want to generalize but I do thinking that being at Guilford does help us understand that message better than possibly at other schools. Our core values promote this message. For as much as people did not take Sam's advice, I thought and appreciate that his definition of success was heavily focused on his individual happiness. I think that this is important and apply it to my own life. A lot of Guilford would probably agree this. I also love his baseball analogy. I am a lover of baseball and that the idea of hitting .400 (4 out of 10) is almost guaranteed to get you in the hall of fame is deeply applicable to life. Success is always come with some failures, because without the fails in life, we never get true perspective.

The Day that Horses Came Out Walked Through the Woods

“Who are you whom I so faintly hear? Who urge me ever on? What voice is this that speaks within me... guides me towards the best? We shall make a new start. A fresh beginning. Here the blessings of the earth are bestowed upon all. None need grow poor. Here there is good ground for all, and no cost but one's labor. We shall build a true common wealth, hard work and self reliance our virtues. We shall have no landlords to reack us with high rents or extort the fruit of our labor.”
- The New World

First of all, I want to respond to Van Jones' speech from last week. Wow, he is one hell of a speaker. He has the right blend of humor and putting you in your place. I was either laughing really hard, or thinking "friend speaks my mind." When he talked about WHole Foods, I couldn't agree more. "We shouldn't have to go down to Whole Foods to get our food," said Jones. "It seems like a whole paycheck, and you come out with one strawberry. I'm healthy but I'm hungry." In my mind, this is what makes an effective speaker. He knew his audience and went with it. The way he spoke about how our generation has to continue for hope. He was one of the smartest guys I have seen speak at Guilford. He made seem like it was such an obvious decision that we should become more environmentally aware, no matter what social, political or economical group we are a part of. This is true, and if only more people would listen. I thought it was really interesting how he talked about how we as humans have to be sustainable with ourselves and our bodies before we can focus on the planet. I wish I could have been a part of the sit down dinner to talk to him more.

In regards to the reading about hypothermia, I learned a lot. I never had thought too much on the different ways that people lose heat and more. I am definitely more prepared to be in the cold. So while I would much prefer to be in warmer weather, I will take this reading in mind when thinking of what I will wear out hiking and on backpacking trips. I have printed off this reading so I have it to make sure I am safe. Some of it was logical and others were not.

The Moral Instinct article was really interesting. Pinker is a really interesting fellow who has a lot to say about many different things. I had learned a little a bit about him in high school. How he started the article was an effective way. I naturally had put Mother Teresa as more admirable than Bill Gates (though I had thought Gates has certainly redeemed himself) or Norman Borlaug (I had no idea who this man was previously). This made me question whose and what morals are the ones that should be valued. While Gates, as head of Microsoft has lots of issues with morality (anti-trusts and what have you), he along with Warren Buffett and others have made significant strides in trying to rid the world of numerous diseases that plague the planet. Its interesting how Pinker discusses the evolution in what society determines is moral and immoral. Smoking was not only accepted but pretty much expected in society, our presidents smoked publicly (Obama only recently has really quit), but soon the effects of tobacco showed, and the view on smoking did a 180 degree turn that was so fast that the country is still catching up. Its hard to place morals on others because a lot of our morals come from our upbringings. Someone who is born very little money is likely to have a very different moral code than that of someone who was born with way too much money. The question is though, how would they both deal with the Trolley Problem. I like to believe that there are some universal morals, but frankly there are times when I am not sure. There is definitely not a hundred percent universal morality. I am going to have agree with some of what Dawkins claims in the "Selfish Gene." I have to agree that it takes genes that are self motivated to get ahead to survive in the Darwin society. There are reasons that certain traits and genes have survived over others. Its human nature to act in a Darwin fashion, so it makes sense that at our most basic level we are still selfish.

In the fake discussion between Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins, they talk about the idea of the two souls. There is Soul One that there is something that can't be seen but something that people believe that exists. This is the soul that they argue has been killed by science. This is due to the fact that science has to prove the existence of things while soul two, which is "Intellectual or spiritual power. High development of the mental faculties. Also, in somewhat weakened sense, deep feeling, sensitivity." This fake discussion says that science is not able to kill the soul two. This may be because it relies on science to exist. It is not trying to deny science, but trying to coexist with it. Often, there are times that people who believe in the existence of Soul One but they deny the presence of science. They see science and faith being incompatible. But this is not true. We need to get away from this separation and come together to make Soul One. I do believe there are these two souls though, I just think we need to accept Soul One by coming together as humans, not as science vs. believers. If we can accept Soul Two, lets accept Soul One.

In regards to Steve Jobs's commencement speech, he had very unique insight to share with college graduates. He starts off talking about his reasoning for dropping out of college. I never had the thought of dropping out of school, but the way he describe what he "stumbled into" seem the best reason not to go to college. He was able to learn about these different things that interested in him, despite him previously going to a liberal arts school. He used the skills that he learned from classes that he just appeared at, instead of being registered, and changed the foundations of societies with these skills he would learn. Connecting the dots later, instead of before hand, makes so much sense. At an early age, I was raised on Greek mythology. From this, I learned about fate, and destiny, so I came to the idea that we make our own choices but there are some moments that bring it all together, similar to connecting the dots later instead of trying to figure out what is next. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do, but I certainly do fear on the idea of settling. I hope if I do have to settle, I plan to make it only temporary. I want to travel the world, capturing the beauty of it, and yes I want to convince someone or some organization to pay me to do this. I am interested in seeing when I get to this level. I know I have some steps to make before I get to make this but this is the destination that I hope to arrive to.

Mary Oliver defines success in her poem, The Summer Day:

"I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields"

Oliver is saying success means to be present and enjoy the world for what it is. To take time to just walk in the fields, feeling the tall grass against the finger tips. That is success because that is what it means to be alive, and the most successful thing we can do, is breathe and live. So go outside and enjoy the moments of true beauty in nature. I would agree on Oliver on this definition of success. There are times when I am in nature, that I am lost in the beauty and feel at peace. I understand the great nature and transcendentalist, among other movements, of writers. I get so engrossed, that I do what is unnatural for me, and put down the camera. Because in these moments of success, my passion of photography can not capture this feeling no matter what. We as humans must value these moments. Van Jones touched on this as well in different ways but in the same principle. We should allow ourselves to break free of distractions of our society and go out and enjoy what has always been there. This is what Oliver sees as success and why I agree.

Annie Dillard appears to have been a creative person most of her life. She found creative ways to give people money as a child. As she got older, that creativity blossomed into her writing. She was able to share knowledge and views of the world with her writing. She is pretty successful at that. She is able creatively tell us stories that help us better understand our world. We should find creativity in the world, some do it through writings, others through art, and others find different means to define creativity in their lives. Its important to have creative in our lives, no matter what the outlet that we use is, because it allows us to escape from the rigidity of life. We can break free of the norm and try something new. It allows to better understand ourselves, while figuring out the world that we have surrounded ourselves in.This is how Dillard is using creativity, and how I have to agree that it is important to our worlds.

Cold Thoughts...

While seated in the snow, I was and continually am excited about this class. I find the mix of the class to be a fun one who will bring in different perspectives on ideas. We have a religious studies major, art majors, English majors, film minors, women gender and sexuality minor. Some of us draw, others photographs, others sculpt, others none at all. I am very interested in see where our class goes with our different interests.

When the name Annie Dillard was said, my ears perked up because I love her writings. I read a bunch of her essays in high school and fell in love with her topics and writings. I have read "Seeing" before. I love the story that she starts off with. I can picture a little girl marking the sidewalk to where the penny is.

I have to agree that we are in a "now-you-see-it, now-you-don't." Its an unfortunate that people look at the world, but see only a smart piece of it through "the keyhole." Its important that we as people, expand what we see. We must be open to new ideas and new adventures. Try to make the best out of our lives. We should keep our eyes open to the world around us. There is so much beauty in the world, so we have to just expose ourselves to it and be ready to experience it.

The reading of the two Mary Oliver poems made for an interesting part of class. By reading "Cold Poem" first, it enhanced the coldness I felt from sitting in the snow. My hands needed to be covered up because they got chilly. But the more we read it, the warmer I got. The poem fits with what Dillard was talking about. They both are trying telling us that we should look at things more than one way. We should adjust the lenses to reevaluate the world around us. Oliver mentions that cold isn't just a feeling but possibly it "is the time we measure the love we have always had, secretly for our own bones, the hard knife-edged love for the warm river of the I, beyond all else." This is important for us as humans to better understand the world we are a part of. Oliver also talks about making sure that we value our lives and the best of it with the ending of her poem, "The Summer Day." It is the question, we all must ask ourselves, so our lives are fulfilled.

I am excited for reading David Abram's book as well as Yvon Chouinard's. They are both fascinating people who bring interesting ideas to the classroom. Chouinard is a fascinating guy. I learned a good bit about him in a recent documentary called "180° South". So I am interested in reading his book. A lot of the readings on the syllabus fascinate me. So I really can't wait to read for this class and see what insight the people in the class bring to offer every week.

Facebook & Gonzo

The blog is back up and running. This weekend, has involved lots of football, movies and relaxing. Nothing too interesting.

I watched The Social Network. My favorite movie of 2011 in terms of Oscar hopefuls. David Fincher is one of my favorite directors (though he is going against another favorite of mine, Darren Aronofsky). I love his style and lighting. I got flashes of Fight Club and Seven while watching it. Aaron Sorkin did a fabulous job writing the script and makes me want to read the book that it is based on. Jesse Eisenberg, usually type-casted was perfect in this role. He actually has been on a role with the films I have seen with him, especially in The Education of Charlie Banks. I feel like it should and will win Best Picture this year.

I have been reading Hunter S. Thompson's The Proud Highway. It provides fabulous insights into one of my favorite authors and personal idol. I fully plan to own his complete works one day, and I have a poster from the documentary, Gonzo, about his life. Now to start my blog for my IDS class. Maybe...

How a resurrection really feels...

This is the first time that I have written here since I left South America. It is still hard for me to escape South America mentally.Nostalgia has tapped into my sub-conscience and it makes me anxious to return. So much beauty and wonder in these lands.


Life has been changing this year as I slowly prepare for the future. I have been busy meeting with people, talking about future jobs and see what could be out there for me. Who knows where I will be.