MY FRIEND WRITES
Good morning, Jim.
“Like viewing a painting, we project ourselves into what we view.”
Yes, I feel I can go along with that.
“All writing, even scientific writing, is imprinted with the spiritual.”
“All writing, even scientific writing, is imprinted with the spiritual.”
This made be pause about the word “spiritual.” I was inclined to replace it with the word “ethical,” but on perusing the internet I quickly realized that this would be dead wrong. I found that “Scholars suggest that spirituality is a broad, subjective concept. It is the pursuit of something bigger than we are. Simply put, it is a pursuit of the meaning of life.”
That scholarly suggestion puts me in some quandary, that “bigger than we are.” This statement, to my mind, makes the world we have come into the “bigger than we are, something we somehow adapt to. I am inclined to believing that we need a word, X, to denote an equivalent concept for the notion that X arises from something WITHIN us from conception, hence subjective, but not bigger than we are.
That scholarly suggestion puts me in some quandary, that “bigger than we are.” This statement, to my mind, makes the world we have come into the “bigger than we are, something we somehow adapt to. I am inclined to believing that we need a word, X, to denote an equivalent concept for the notion that X arises from something WITHIN us from conception, hence subjective, but not bigger than we are.
Maybe that word X exists and just failed to come to mind.
_________________________________________
Jim, you heap too much praise on me. I do not consider who I am as a personal achievement. Unlike Frank Sinatra’s “I did it my way,” I am what I am due to the constitution I was born with embroidered upon by parents, teachers, friends, enemies, etc. Which brings me to mention the last writing you did before your operation in which you put a long list of people who you recognized had an influence on you. That letter has been on my mind ever since.
Months ago I promised to read Devlin, but I haven’t gotten beyond chapter 4 yet. So many things fighting for attention! Must keep my word, life permitting.
Best, and thanks for your reply; I am pondering to make it a subject of a next piece in My World.
Henry
_________________________________
I ANSWER
Henry,
This "2-cent" piece is remarkable and consistent with your supple mind.
Like viewing a painting, we tend to project our cultural perceptive self into what we view.
When it comes to our cognitive self, this can get far more complicated and cause conflict between our cognitive and spiritual self.
All writing, even scientific writing is imprinted with the spiritual. Our spiritual self as flawed as it is is our humanity.
Nothing is then an easy read. That is okay. The problem occurs, however, when you attempt to decipher what the author meant -- take THE HEART OF DARKNESS -- and what paid critics say it means, attempting then to reconcile this with what you think it means. Ever notice critics seldom agree with each other, which is quite human, and for me, reassuring.
I've had the arrogance of never being impeded by their learned pronouncements.
But then, unlike you, I am not an educated man but captive to my native tongue, American English, while you can speak and read in several languages and so have cultural depth that I lack.
Moreover, in your impressionistic years, you survived a terrible period (WWII) living in Europe, coming to Canada as a young man, to launch a meaningful career. Kudos to you!
On a related subject, if able to peck it out, I'd like to explain Irish Roman Catholicism, from my perspective, and how it is central to the self-made writer that I have become.
This mindset is evident in two protean works: my memoir as a novel, "In the Shadow of the Courthouse," and my bawdy novel of South Africa, combining episodic high jinks with the clash of cultures to end the impressionistic innocence of a young American executive that takes place in 1968 during Afrikaner "apartheid." The novel is called "Devlin."
Stay tuned!
Jim
Like viewing a painting, we tend to project our cultural perceptive self into what we view.
When it comes to our cognitive self, this can get far more complicated and cause conflict between our cognitive and spiritual self.
All writing, even scientific writing is imprinted with the spiritual. Our spiritual self as flawed as it is is our humanity.
Nothing is then an easy read. That is okay. The problem occurs, however, when you attempt to decipher what the author meant -- take THE HEART OF DARKNESS -- and what paid critics say it means, attempting then to reconcile this with what you think it means. Ever notice critics seldom agree with each other, which is quite human, and for me, reassuring.
I've had the arrogance of never being impeded by their learned pronouncements.
But then, unlike you, I am not an educated man but captive to my native tongue, American English, while you can speak and read in several languages and so have cultural depth that I lack.
Moreover, in your impressionistic years, you survived a terrible period (WWII) living in Europe, coming to Canada as a young man, to launch a meaningful career. Kudos to you!
On a related subject, if able to peck it out, I'd like to explain Irish Roman Catholicism, from my perspective, and how it is central to the self-made writer that I have become.
This mindset is evident in two protean works: my memoir as a novel, "In the Shadow of the Courthouse," and my bawdy novel of South Africa, combining episodic high jinks with the clash of cultures to end the impressionistic innocence of a young American executive that takes place in 1968 during Afrikaner "apartheid." The novel is called "Devlin."
Stay tuned!
Jim
No comments:
Post a Comment