Checking out…
I am the fisherman of a story
That has no tourist and no fish
I walk away today with much. The word gratitude has been redefined for me, leaving me a sense of worth and value. That human value, that at times can be lost amongst the noise of life, amongst the quick disrespects that pass by where we think it’s ok to ignore.
We had our last 2 readings, read with our heavy voices knowing these our last words together. We began our course with poetry and now ending with 2 poems, speaking to us again of the importance of true listening, yet not forgetting that speech is as powerful. The air felt thick on one of the hottest days in France, as the breeze secretly passed through one window and out the other, comforting our goodbyes. When will I experience this all again ? The coming together as to read and discuss. We don’t seem to do that enough back in the “real world”. Sharing ideas on literature, articles and poems combined. I wish we did this more, over natural flavours of food embedded amongst our natural land. To listen and to speak for the value of just listening and speaking with no intentions or bigger goals.
We were stripped these past 10days of any external influences, and how quickly we felt the urge on some days to bring old needs back. In our conversations we spoke of Well-being, of goals without being fully selfish, the respect of cultures, yet sometimes the hardest task was to show up on time. The equal power of silence and words.
“When I go, your cold house will be
– Rainer Maria Rilke
Empty of words that made it sweet.
I am the sandals your bare feet
Will seek long for, wearily. … “
I have not yet fully absorbed the depth of all that has been experienced. In my opinion these past 10 days were rare. Atleast in all my 3 decades I have rarely been given so much purity all at once from pure silence to the orchestra of uncaged birds, to the natural raw fields that hadn’t been forced to grow, to the homemade flavours eaten among diverse laughters that had no guards or anything to prove, to being expressive without the need of popularity or social media likes. We connected across 35 Readings, 9 nationalities, 9 souls, 9 minds, 3 generations, 10 days in 1 historical castle with a speed that eliminated stress, materialistic attachment and elongated time.
As we drove away, watching the blended colours of Green and yellow, I remembered the Zagros journey, it’s variable speeds each bringing forth its own set of thoughts. How speed effects us individually, how it can form our thoughts, our communication, our value … our definition of authenticity.
“I stopped to listen, but he did not come. I began again with a sense of loss. As this sense deepened I heard him again. I stopped stopping and I stopped starting, and I allowed myself to be crushed by ignorance. …”
– Leonard Cohen
Thank you Culturistan.