{"id":20276,"date":"2018-05-11T10:50:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T14:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=20276"},"modified":"2018-05-11T10:50:31","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T14:50:31","slug":"just-enough-of-the-just-right-thing-and-less-of-everything-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/just-enough-of-the-just-right-thing-and-less-of-everything-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Enough of the Just-Right Thing (and Less of Everything Else)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image:<\/a><\/p>\n

[Image: “X-ray with foreign bodies (Reeve 43065),” from the collection of the U.S. National Museum of Health and Medicine. (Found on Flickr<\/a>, of course, and used here under a Creative Commons license — thank you!) The Flickr caption says, “X-ray with foreign bodies present. ‘Photograph #3<\/a>. Shows from above downward, the following articles: bed spring, teaspoon bent upon itself, metal door fixtures, another bed spring, and parts from a door lock.'” Frustratingly, it doesn’t identify the type of animal which managed to consume all this hardware!]<\/em><\/p>\n

From whiskey river<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Daydreaming doesn’t make things up. It sees things. Claims things, twirls them around, takes a good look. Possesses them. Embraces them. Makes something of them. Makes sense. Or music. How restful it is, how full of motion. My first paradox. I couldn’t care less what it’s called. It’s pure pleasure. Infinite delight… This is what is called the life of the mind. It’s what I want to do. It’s where I want to be. Right here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Patricia Hampl [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A Prayer for Rain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let it come down: these thicknesses of air
\nhave long enough walled love away from love;
\nstillness has hardened until words despair
\nof their high leaps and kisses shut themselves
\nback into wishing. Crippled lovers lie
\nagainst a weather which holds out on them,
\nwaiting, awaiting some shrill sign, some cry,
\nsome screaming cat that smells a sacrifice
\nand spells them thunder. Start the mumbling lips,
\nsyllable by monotonous syllable,
\nthat wash away the sullen griefs of love
\nand drown out knowledge of an ancient war—
\no, ill-willed dark, give with the sound of rain,
\nlet love be brought to ignorance again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Lisel Mueller [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

May Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve decided to waste my life again,
\nLike I used to: get drunk on
\nThe light in the leaves, find a wall
\nAgainst which something can happen,<\/p>\n

Whatever may have happened
\nLong ago—let a bullet hole echoing
\nThe will of an executioner, a crevice
\nIn which a love note was hidden,<\/p>\n

Be a cell where a struggling tendril
\nUtters a few spare syllables at dawn.
\nI’ve decided to waste my life
\nIn a new way, to forget whoever<\/p>\n

Touched a hair on my head, because
\nIt doesn’t matter what came to pass,
\nOnly that it passed, because we repeat
\nOurselves, we repeat ourselves.<\/p>\n

I’ve decided to walk a long way
\nOut of the way, to allow something
\nDreaded to waken for no good reason,
\nLet it go without saying,<\/p>\n

Let it go as it will to the place
\nIt will go without saying: a wall
\nAgainst which a body was pressed
\nFor no good reason, other than this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Phillis Levin [source<\/span><\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion, and the tyranny of the dull mind forever threatens — but our lives are not as limited as we think they are, all things are possible, laughter is holier than piety, freedom is sweeter than fame, and in the end it’s love and love alone that really matters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Tom Robbins [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not from whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n

[Recounting an interview with Taiwanese-born communications professor Preston Ni:]<\/em><\/p>\n

But when we began talking about Asian concepts of “soft power” — what Ni calls leadership “by water rather than fire” — I started to see a side of him that was less impressed by Western styles of communication. “In Asian cultures,” Ni said, “there’s often a subtle way to get what you want. It’s not always aggressive, but it can be very determined and very skillful. In the end, much is achieved because of it. Aggressive power beats you up; soft power wins you over…<\/p>\n

“In the long run,” said Ni, “if the idea is good, people shift. If the cause is just and you put heart into it, it’s almost a universal law: you will attract people who want to share your cause.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Susan Cain [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

Finishing Up<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wonder if I know enough to know what it’s really like
\nto have been here: have I seen sights enough to give
\nseeing over: the clouds, I\u2019ve waited with white
\nOctober clouds like these this afternoon often before and<\/p>\n

taken them in, but white clouds shade other white
\nones gray, had I noticed that: and though I’ve
\nfollowed the leaves of many falls, have I spent time with
\nthe wire vines left when frost’s red dyes strip the leaves<\/p>\n

away: is more missing than was never enough: I’m sure
\nmany of love’s kinds absolve and heal, but were they passing
\nrapids or welling stirs: I suppose I haven’t done and seen
\nenough yet to go, and, anyway, it may be way on on the way<\/p>\n

before one picks up the track of the sufficient, the
\nworld-round reach, spirit deep, easing and all, not just mind
\nanswering itself but mind and things apprehended at once
\nas one, all giving all way, not a scrap of question holding back.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(A. R. Ammons [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day’s sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay’s call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else’s heart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Diane Ackerman [source<\/em>: none canonical, but cited many places — including here<\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh.
\nHere I am at Camp Granada.
\nCamp is very entertaining.
\nAnd they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Allan Sherman [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Image: “X-ray with foreign bodies (Reeve 43065),” from the collection of the U.S. National Museum of Health and Medicine. (Found on Flickr, of course, and used here under a Creative Commons license — thank you!) The Flickr caption says, “X-ray with foreign bodies present. ‘Photograph #3. Shows from above downward, the following articles: bed spring, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Lisel Mueller, Rom Robbins, Allan Sherman, Diane Ackerman, et al: 'Just Enough of the Just-Right Thing (and Less of Everything Else)'","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,1393,95,250,5,50,251,4159],"tags":[1420,1438,2314,2700,2978,4687,4726,4727,4728,4729],"class_list":{"0":"post-20276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ruminations","8":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","9":"category-science-medicine","10":"category-art","11":"category-06_writing","12":"category-language-writing_cat","13":"category-poetry-writing_cat","14":"category-essays","15":"tag-balance","16":"tag-diane-ackerman","17":"tag-lisel-mueller","18":"tag-tom-robbins","19":"tag-a-r-ammons","20":"tag-good-news-and-bad-news","21":"tag-patricia-hampl","22":"tag-phillis-levin","23":"tag-susan-cain","24":"tag-allan-sherman","25":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/xraywithforeignbodies_reeve43065_thumb.jpg?fit=500%2C612&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-5h2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20276"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20287,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20276\/revisions\/20287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}