In this somewhat regular letter, sprinkles of my wanderings through philosophy, culture, art and, well, life. An attempt to ease some ruffled spirits, perhaps. Mine, at least. This is me on the internet, this is my website.
Hello everyone,
‘Hello’ ?
‘Hello’ doesn’t quite cut it, does it?
So, how about:
Dia dhuit everyone,
I’m off to Ireland with a group of fellow travellers so I thought some Gaelic would be apropos. Also, some readers of this letter of news (well, one specific reader) has commented that ‘hello everyone’ was no way to start a letter. And although no offense was meant by the admittedly somewhat vulgar ‘hello’, it does feel right to use a word with a bit more depth, a word that recognizes the sacredness of an approach to another person, even in a letter, even online.
From anam cara, by John O’Donohue:
In the Celtic tradition, and especially in the Gaelic language, there is a refined sense of the sacredness which the approach to another person should embody. The word ‘hello’ does not exist in Gaelic. The way that you encounter someone is through blessing. You say, Dia dhuit, God be with you. They respond, Dia is Muire dhuit, God and Mary be with you. When you are leaving a person, you say, go gcumhdái Dia thú, may God come to your assistance or go gcoinne Dia thú, may God keep you. The ritual of encounter is framed at the beginning and at the end with blessing. Regularly throughout conversation in Gaelic, there is explicit recognition that the divine is present in others.
If you encounter someone through blessing, the encounter deepens and then isn’t just a transaction but an actual attempt at connection. I’ve just returned from the store to buy some groceries, we (or, I) have a long way to go…
Anyway, hoping (and somewhat expecting) that you’ve now all muttered Dia is Muire dhuit back to your screen (and at me), let’s get this thing moving, for a suitcase is waiting to be packed.
In this letter of news: a Celtic greeting (check), some projects you might want to join, a January - April highlight reel and finally, a Celtic prayer to finish.
Some upcoming projects:
English and Dutch:
Click on the link to join a weekly guided meditation;
Dutch:
Ierland reis: de mei reis staat op het punt van vertrekken, maar in september vertrekken Matthijs Schouten en ik opnieuw met een bont reisgezelschap op ontdekkingstocht door het gelaagde landschap van the Burren in West-Ierland. Er is nog een aantal plekken vrij. De reis van vorig jaar is vastgelegd in een 5-delige podcast serie door reisgenoot en podcast- en radiomaker Lex Bohlmeijer. Meer informatie en aanmelden via de link;
oikos - terug in ons aardse huis: in deze reeks willen we onszelf weer bewust maken van het wonder van de wereld die ons allen draagt. Dit doen we op zes zondagen in 2024 door de verschillende domeinen van ons huis, onze oikos, te beschouwen. Op zondag 26 mei onderzoeken we onze verwantschap met onze medemens op 16 juni eindigen we de reeks met een blik in het oneindige heelal. Koop je kaartje via de link;
Stiltedag 19 juni - een dag van stilte in een prachtig bos, schrijf je in via de link;
April has been a weird month for me. The green is seemingly welcomed back, everything is finding its new form, renewal wants to take shape, but it has been cold, grey and rainy and it seems as if the old forms aren’t that excited about having to share their limited space with these new younglings. My whole internal world appears to be objecting to my renewal, or is telling me: not good enough, not honest enough, not true enough.
I’m trying. I keep trying.
This letter of news then, is somewhat of a report of my process of renewal since January, as documented in my writing. Below are nine extremely condensed excerpts from my blog (god I hate that word), or threads (that’s better). Click on the title to go to the entire post, follow along here to just dip your toes in it. Enjoy!
Love is the goal; also, love is a good place to start: I saw the beautiful film all of us strangers, followed some threads, and in an interview read this quote by its director Andrew Haigh (who also directed the great Weekend): ‘it sounds so cheesy, but I feel like love really is the thing that remains.’
Love: the beginning, the goal and the thing that remains…
A man in the world, meets a soon-to-be-man not-quite-yet in the world…:
‘Your roots are deep. You have strength, and you must have room, room to grow. Thus I offer you, instead of a safe trip home, an unsafe voyage to an unknown end. You need not come. The choice is yours. But I offer you the choice. For I am tired of safe places, and roofs, and walls around me’ - this is me, this is now, this is May, tired of safe places, and roofs, and walls around me. Time for an unsafe voyage to an unknown end!
twee tuinen, twee werelden; Bahâ’ad-Dîn Zuhayr, Forough Farrokhzad en Antonio Machado’s dichten over hun tuinen (ok het zijn toch drie tuinen)
"What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you…?"
sakamotopus; a short thread through the wondrous musical life of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Below, a teaser of (sakamot)opus:
…and i wept: Rothko, Radiohead and a mathematician walk into a bar… intriguing similarities between the creation (or excavation) by a mathematician, a musician and a painter… (please watch at least the first three minutes of the video):
following threads: Francis of Assisi and Tom Builder, questions of re-invention and/or re-building, questions that remain unanswered, but then…
artist Philip Guston joins the thread!
‘it’s taken me years to come to the conclusion or to the belief that probably the only thing one can really learn is the capacity to be able to change’
more questions, leading to quests, leading to questions, leading to…
many more questions! Finally then, the end, which is a return, a return to an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment, to a light that never goes out… ‘oh please save your life, because you’ve only got one…’
And before I go, as promised, a Celtic prayer:
Time to say goodbye, thankfully O’Donohue has taught me that the ritual of encounter is (or should be) framed at the beginning and at the end with blessing.
Thank you for reading,
go gcumhdái Dia thú,
Louis Bijl de Vroe