Nature is not separate from humankind in Japanese culture. It is a part of us. And the need to keep the two in harmony can be seen in every aspect of life, from the design of gardens that incorporate the natural landscape, to the design of houses that blur inside and outside by means ofContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Shizen”
Category Archives: Blog
Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Rating: 🌟🌟 Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction. Publisher: Canongate Books Review in one word: Fluff A lot of people raved and hyped about this book and a friend recommended this to me, because he spent a long night in the cafe reading it. This is an indulgent, compulsive and enjoyable read, sort of likeContinue reading “Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig”
Comforting Thought: Knowledge Deepens Appreciation
“Aldo Leopold said that our ability to perceive the quality of nature begins ‘as in art, with the pretty’ After that it expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language. What he was getting at is this: knowledge deepens appreciation. Seeing cranes feeding in a wetland he saw notContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Knowledge Deepens Appreciation”
Dissapearing into the desert
“The desert could not be claimed or owned–it was a piece of cloth carried by winds, never held down by stones, and given a hundred shifting names… Its caravans, those strange rambling feasts and cultures, left nothing behind, not an ember. All of us, even those with European homes and children in the distance, wishedContinue reading “Dissapearing into the desert”
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #96
Prepare yourself for celestial wars between the gods, secret signals by airport ground staff, a catalogue of pompadour hair styles, a quirky Japanese museum and much more, it’s edition #96 of Interesting Things!
Environmentalism boils down to faith in the end
Faith in the possibility of change, the prospect of a better future. For green shoots in the rubble, fresh water in the desert. And our faith is often tested. Everywhere I have looked, everywhere I have been – places bent and broken, despoiled and desolate, polluted and poisoned, I have found new life springing fromContinue reading “Environmentalism boils down to faith in the end”
Ancient Word of the Day: Kodama
Many Japanese folk stories are about kodama, a kind of nature deity that lives in a tree, a bit like a Greek Dryad. Some people believed that kodama travel throughout the forest, moving from tree to tree. Others believe that they inhabit a particular tree.
Comforting Thought: Each life is a mission of discovering the question of why you were born
According to Carl Jung, each life is an individuation process, one of discovering the particular question you were put on earth to answer. This question may have been left unanswered by an ancestor, although you must proceed with it in the manner of your own generation. But the question is not easy, or it wouldContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Each life is a mission of discovering the question of why you were born”
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #95
This week, Baba Yaga greets you in the Polish twilight, you will get insights into pet body language, see a Mardi Gras ready caterpillar, lunar snails, a levitating coffee, some ancient Greek badasses and more in edition #95, stay cool but if you are in a wintery place now – stay warm.
Comforting Thought: We should allow ourselves to receive love and care from others
Paradoxically, letting go sometimes means allowing ourselves to receive love and care from others. Our can-do culture has made many of us believe that we should always be self-sufficient. Somewhere along the way we also get the message that asking for help is a sign of weakness. We often forget that we’re interdependent creatures whoseContinue reading “Comforting Thought: We should allow ourselves to receive love and care from others”
Content Catnip 