The Gleanings Project: Places of the Heart

“Stanley Park from Ambleside” Phone Photo, DS

Ellard, Colin. Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life. New York, NY:  Bellevue Library Press, 2015.

477 words

“Regardless of what can be known about the thinking that lay behind the careful construction of Goebekli Tepe, six thousand years before the invention of the written word, one thing is clear –– what happened there may represent the very beginning of what has now become a defining characteristic, perhaps the defining characteristic of humanity: we build to change perceptions, and to influence thoughts and feelings; by these means, we attempt to organize human activity, exert power, and in many cases, to make money. We see examples of this everywhere, scattered through the length and breadth of human history.” (Ellard, 15)

“Breathtaking natural phenomena like an inky starlit sky or the depths of the Grand Canyon, or a human-built artifact like a cathedral ceiling, can exert measurable influence on our feelings about ourselves, how we treat others, and even our perceptions of the passage of time.” 

“When we visit a shopping mall or a department store . . . we find ourselves entering almost a hypnotic state with lowered defenses, diminished reserve, and a heightened inclination to spend money on something we don’t need. . .  by careful design.” 

“A walk through a busy, urban street market teeming with colorful wares, the delicious aroma of food, and a hubbub of human activity . . . can cause our moods to soar.” (16)

“The areas of our brain that process feelings are widely distributed . . . It is difficult to overestimate the importance of such findings for our overall understanding of how the brain produces adaptive behavior . . . “ (19)

“Walls reinforce or perhaps even create social conventions and cultural norms. The invention of dedicated sleeping spaces in homes changed our views about sexuality. The design of traditional Muslim homes and even of streetscapes reified beliefs about gender and generational divisions.” (25)

“Despite our modern state of detachment from the conditions that originally shaped us, most of us still crave contact with nature . . . We are innately attracted to elements of places that for our forebears might have made the difference between life and death . . . When we visit new cities, we naturally gravitate toward whatever verdant squares and gardens may be on offer. “ (30)

“Our preferences for the appearance and arrangement of trees takes us one step beyond simple spatial consideration and into the realm of color, texture, and form.” (36)

“One can see the hallmarks of these preferences in almost every aspect of our behavior, from where we choose to walk and sit, what we like to look at, and how we try to arrange our lives, alternating as much as possible between powerful forces of technologies that shape our attention and the restorative effects of natural settings . . . More than any other single factor, our cravings for nature underlie the psycho-geographic structure of our lives.” (51)

Even visiting gardens virtually can have powerful effects. Here is one where I recently explored the blue poppies online at Reford Gardens in Quebec:

Historic Gardens

Blue Poppies

. . . 

Meandering Through the Writings of Others as a Practice of Lament: Matthew 15-18

“Stanley Park from Ambleside Beach” Phone Photo, DS

Here are today’s explorations:

Matthew 15-18

Jesus interviewed by Pharisees

Why do your traditions violate

The commandments of God

Jesus asked

Hypocrites

Blind guides

Then he said to the woman

Whose daughter had a demon

Within her

I was sent to help the Jews

Sir help me

Woman 

Your faith is large and

Your request is granted

Jesus now returned to

The Sea of Galilee

Climbed on a hill

And sat there

Crowds

Lame blind maimed and

Those who could not speak

Healed

Jesus had

Disciples feed them with

Seven loaves and a few 

Small fish

Blessed by God

Peter

I will build my church

And all the powers of

Hell will not prevail 

Against it

What profit is there

If you gain the whole world

And lose eternal life

Six days later Jesus took

Peter James and his brother

John to the top of a high

And lonely hill

His appearance changed as

They watched

His face shone like

The sun

His clothing became dazzling

White

A voice from a bright cloud

This is my beloved Son

I am wonderfully pleased

With him obey him

Don’t be afraid Jesus said

Jesus rebuked the demon

In a boy and he was well

From that moment

Pray and fast for this

Mustard seed faith

Jesus warned disciples of his

Betrayal and

His rising on the third day

Go down to the shore

And throw in a line

Find a coin in the mouth

Of a fish and pay taxes

Sir how often should I

Forgive my brother

Seven times

Jesus said seventy

Times seven times

Meandering Through the Writings of Others as Lament Practice: My Heart Soars

“Low Tide, Ambleside”

Phone Photo, DS

Here are the explorations today:

George, Chief Dan. My Heart Soars. 1989

699 words

My mother had a kindness that embraces all of life. She knew her place well and was comfortable in giving all she had. *** This is the tradition of native women. *** Young people are the pioneers of new ways. *** Words to a grandchild: perhaps there will be a day you will want to sit by my side asking for counsel . . .  *** In the midst of a land without silence you have to make a place for yourself. *** The sky hangs low and paints new colors on the earth. *** Use the heritage of silence to observe others . . .  *** It is compassion that will make you strong. *** Touch a child. They are my people. *** The faces of the past are like leaves that settle to the ground . . . They will make the ground rich and thick so that new fruit will come forth every summer. *** I was born into a culture that lived in communal houses . . .  people learned to live with one another, learned to serve one another, learned to respect the rights of one another. *** My white brother does many things well for he is more clever than my people but I wonder if he knows how to love well. *** Everyone likes to give as well as receive. No one likes only to receive all the time. We have taken much from your culture . . .  I wish you had taken something from our culture . . .  for there were some beautiful and good things in it. *** Many shores I have sailed to in my canoe, often against strong winds. *** Choose the tree well my brother if it is to carry you to distant shores. *** When a man does what needs to be done, he does not know the meaning of time. *** A man who cannot give thanks for the food he eats, walks without the blessings of nature. *** There are many who look, but only some who see. *** We have diminished in numbers and paid for our past with sorrow and pain. *** When a thought forms it needs much time to grow. *** It is harder to find somebody who will listen, but everybody reads. Therefore we must write about our ways, our beliefs, our customs, our morals, how we ‘look’ at things and why, how we lived, and how we live now. To do this we need the old and the young. The young and the old are closest to life. They love every minute dearly. *** If the old will remember, the very young will listen. ***  Keep a few embers from the fire that used to burn in your village. Someday go back so all can gather again and rekindle the flame for a new life in a changed world. *** I have known you when your forests were mine. ***  I walked tall  and proud knowing the resourcefulness of these my people., feeling the blessing of the Supreme Spirit. *** Today, harmony still lives in nature, though we have less wilderness, less variety of creatures, and fewer people. *** Know the cougars’ dens in the hills . . . *** The wild beauty of the coastline and the taste of the sea fog remains hidden behind the windows of passing cars. *** Take care or soon our ears will strain in vain to hear the great song. *** A man who lives and dies in the woods knows the secret life of trees. *** The heart never know the color of the skin. *** Already signs of new life are arising among my people after our bad winter has passed. We have discarded our broken arrows, and our empty quivers, for we know what served us well in the past can never serve us again. *** A wild rose whispers sweetness to the squirrel, a child loves everybody first . . .  *** I am chief . . . It is only with tongue and speech that I can fight my people’s war. *** Oh, Great Chief! Give me back the courage of the olden chiefs.

. . .

The Journey by Mary Oliver

“Ambleside Beach” phone photo DS

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver