wieder unterwegs?
- translation: en route again?
what can we do? we were born w/ th great unrest. our father taught us that
life is one long journey on which only th unfit are left behind.
-caribou eskimo to dr.knud rasmussen, quoted
by bruce chatwin in ‘th songlines’
i finally read ‘th songlines’. my friend marylou(merilu?) meibers, who passed
on last month, had recommended it to me- & chatwin as an author in general-
when it first came out…so i wanted to acknowledge her importance in helping
me set this direction…gonna miss you, ms.m…
i may adopt that term, ‘th great unrest’: all too often, when i start on th
theme of desire, people tend to identify it exclusively w/ sex- which is,
admittedly, th crucial area we tend to experience desire in relation to- but
think of ambition, aspiration, greed, hunger- even nostalgia & longing- & how
they all participate in th outward direction of a self that seeks its rest &
fulfillment in th objects & circumstance that pleasurably ensure its physical
survival & psychological coherence: in th obliteration of its own perceived
lack & incompleteness, & th control of its satisfactions…?
thru wander/lust/media.com as internet start-up i want to explicitly address
each of th elements in th company/project’s name & build a business model
that grows from th realization of th limits of virtual ‘content, community &
commerce’ & its consequent contextualization in geography, localism & brick &
mortar shelters for our liferoutes.
i wd hazard a broad definition of lust, even: lust is precisely th human
tendency to distort th relationship between sex & desire by narrowing th
focus of sexual activity to th purely physical aspects of pleasure in order
to exclude th overwhelming emotional(-& arguably, spiritual)factors, charge,
burdens, circumstance, linkages?- th human animal nearly unavoidably
experiences as part of th vulnerability & breakdown in sense of self that
accompanies intimacy w/ another person, another body…
…in relation to wandering, i hear opposing notions in th culture:
you can only do yr true work in yr place of birth, vs.-
nadie es profeta en su tierra (nobody is a prophet in his/her own land?)
…further, correjter’s beautiful copla-
en la vida todo es ir
a lo que el tiempo deshace
sabe el hombre donde nace
y no donde va a morir
(all in life is th going
towards th undoing of time
a man knows where he is born
& not where he will die- excuse th shaky translation)
-so i want to create a forum for exiles, emigres, expatriates(th more neutral
term) to discuss their succeses in adapting, th emotional discomforts &
thrills in finding a purpose for their talents & skills w/in an alien
cultural context…
i apologize to th collection of friends, family & passing acquaintances that
has become my audience over th last couple of years for th long silence. hit
a serious emotional bottom there. hello again. my current plans call for a
week in nyc & possibly new hiking shoes, a week in barcelona to restart th
ball rolling on getting th screenplay produced, then two weeks to hike th
250km from astorga to santiago de compostela, a week of recovery in galicia,
or an early start on returning to barcelona to allow for a stopover in
pamplona, & ideally, a stopover in amsterdam on th way back to nyc- puerto
rico. i don’t think i’m voting this year.
big hugs & love to all,
davidj=(8{>