I got some great answers to my snarky question. But then, there was the REAL answer. One of my friends, a person I basically grew up with, said that it looked like neither creativity nor chaos, but it looked like I was stuck.
And I was like... Woah.
Exactly right.
I got caught, without realizing it. Because it's true. I've been in stasis. Definition: death to the writer, death to the creative, death to the person.
Culprit: digital rootlessness.
Hear me out. In the fascinating book The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram argues that human cognition itself is dependent, in large part, on connection to the natural world. I'm grappling with this book, and don't yet have a good response to its challenge. But in this, I think the author is right.
We are living, more and more, in a rootless kind of digital reality, constantly reaching for our phones and seeking distraction. Even our work is chained to the digital. Even our joy is dependent on it, sometimes. The reality of the pandemic is not helping, naturally.
Answers? Roots. Sticking your hand into dirt to pull out weeds. Hugging children longer than they like it, until they start squealing. And for me? Adventure racing.
What on earth? It's a sport where you navigate, with map and compass, through a wild area, logging points by finding checkpoints. And you do this navigation on foot, on a mountain bike, and on some form of boat.
For 12 hours straight.
Yes, I'm insane. But let me tell you. I have seen my immediate surroundings with new eyes. I have seen 3 kingfishers, a marmot, two foxes, countless deer, and a kestrel that was dancing for sheer joy. I have noticed little details in my own town that I would never have seen. I have met people and talked to them, eye to eye, face to face, in ways I never have before.
Rootedness means connection to the natural. We need more of it.
That's at least partially the theme for this week's interesting and edifying stories.
1. One reason for intense connection to the natural world for writers is that it makes their writing more realistic and more visceral. A master of this is Ursula LeGuin. Here's a reminder why you should be reading more of her stuff.
2. If I sound like an Amish, maybe that's because there's so many of them living in our area :) But maybe the way they approach technology isn't all that wrong?
3. Digital rootlessness at its worst: Twitter addiction.
4. One very good way of connecting to the world by using technology is through folk music. Try it. Here's a playlist of my absolute most favorite Russian folk-rock band. They're amazing.
5. Did you know that communing with rabbits is really what Tolkien was all about?
6. By the way, my books are all on sale right now as part of an online contest. Find out more about it here.
|