June 6, 2007

Quote of the Week

"As a poet I hold the most archaic values on earth.They go back to the Neolithic: the fertility of the soil, the magic of animals, the power-vision in solitude, the terrifying initiation and rebirth, the love and ecstasy of the dance, the common work of the tribe."
-poet Gary Snider

Snider has an interesting story. He started out as one of the Beat writers of the 1950s in San Fransico, then left in '56 and went to Japan where he spent the next twelve years in a monastery, studying Buddhism.

I've haven't posted anything for over a month. Sorry, I've been extremely busy, maybe becoming a little schizophrenic from work. For the most part, I enjoy the energy that comes from multitasking in the states; doing several jobs at once and getting more work done. Resources and materials are more readily available, transportation is easy, and a protestant work ethic means people better understand a busy face. Multitasking does not transfer to Morocco as easily, but maybe its better. We work too much and don't allow ourselves to enjoy life daily. I believe it was Heinrich Heine who said that he thought a blaspheming Frenchman was a more pleasant object to God than a praying Englishman.

People here do a good job of living in the moment, this coming in most part from a fatalistic paradigm. I need to absorb more of the latter. I'll post more shortly.