Kimberly! Just wow. I had so many thoughts while reading this that I can't even articulate them! I thought of trees and how they talk to each other (something I learned not that all that long ago) and the various "unknowing" things I thought I knew over the decades (and the anxiety I felt while unknowing them, and then peace and wonder that unknowing caused me) and the various identities I either tried on or at least fantasized about and then released over those same decades. I love a good mystery, don't you? Your writing amazes me and causes me to feel amazement. Thank you!
Gosh, what a generous reflections Linda. If my writing can inspire just one mind or heart to "feel amazement" in this world, then I'm happy.
It's true, unknowing ourselves, the identities we thought we needed to survive, can be a radical experience. I love how you express that in the unknowing, you were opened to peace and wonder. We are, this life, all that surrounds, are so much more mystery than known and it is quite beautiful when we surrender to it. Thank you for your thoughtful presence here!
This was breathtakingly stunning. I felt as though I was meditating while reading. I love the notion of unknowing to truly see. Just beautiful. Well done. Time to share.
That's pretty cool Carissa. I felt like I had to get into a more meditative state to write this one. My mind kept on trying to enter with, "But wait, I know this, I know how to say this!" I'm so glad you picked up on some of the meta-energy I was aiming to convey!
When we place ourselves within Nature, what we once thought is true, what we once thought we know, begins to unravel. Humans are not the centre of all things. Humans are one of many, who are best when we cooperate, care and have compassion. If this sounds trite and too simple, it means you are stuck in your old dominating ways of death.
Beautifully stated Perry. "Cooperation, care and compassion" naturally bloom from this understanding, how could it not? We are all participating in life knowing itself in infinite form, ever-connected and ever-changing. Who ever told you this was trite might be feeing very lonely at this moment.
I am so glad I decided to subscribe to you a year ago! This piece is stunningly wise. We have discovered that "writing what you don't know" is the route to original, enjoyable, powerful writing. You expand this into the realm of life and death and show us that we really don't know anything - and are better for it, when we know and accept it.
How am I just discovering you now Allegra!? I am now subscribed to your stack and look forward to learning more about you and your process. Yes, I was very much entering into this piece through death as teacher, my conundrum with the dream, and then I let it take me to all the other unknown realms as well. It's very freeing to allow this unknowing and meet life directly, moment after moment after moment. Thank you for your thoughtful, devoted reading!
Ahh...❣️ Thank you, Kimberly, so very much for this beautiful piece❣️ 💗🙏
So much resonance here. The art of unseeing, which changes everything. Your experience of seeing the Sequoia free from preconception "an invitation to see without predetermination and to lean into the world’s arms with curious trust." reminds me of what Goethe called 'tender empiricism'.
It also reminds me of myself, weaving a Sequoia tree 'with my eyes closed' (= in this case from memory), following an impulse. This was quite some years ago. The woven Sequoia now lives against the backdrop of a granite wall in our house in Portugal.
And speaking of Christo wrapping the Reichstag. I am one of the lucky owners of a small piece of the silver Reichtag's wrapping material (my son was living in Berlin at the time and brought me a little piece of German history as a gift).
And finally, it reminds me of a story neuroscientist Dee Joy Coulter shares in her fascinating book 'Original Mind' where she remembers meeting a Tibetan Buddhist monk who, every time he looked at a flower (or presumably anything), it would appear in front of his eyes (or in his visual cortex) as if seeing it for the very first time!
So much to love here Veronika! "Tender empiricism"—I had to look up empiricism, at first I was confusing it with "imperialism" and that didn't make much sense at all. :) I've been listening to the podcast Telepathy Tapes lately, a deep exploration into non-speaking, autistic children who appear to be extremely telepathic. So prior to this podcast, I likely would've agreed with empiricism, but now, my mind is bending into entirely different ways consciousness potentially operates, the senses only being one modality.
I'd love to see that woven Sequoia! Can you send a photo? They are such majestic trees and I can only imagine how that translated through your memory into fiber. What a lovely experience.
And wow! You have a a swatch of the Christo wrapping! I'm curious, what does it feel like? Is it soft to the touch like cotton, or more sturdy?
I think what Goethe called 'zarte Empirie' in German is more like what you describe as perceiving through some kind of '6th sense' or a telepathic perception. The way Goethe described it is more like connecting to the essential being of a plant, perhaps we could call it a 'soul connection'. The translation into the English 'empiricism' is a little misleading, although it's the same word. So I agree, the so-called 'senses' are channels of a different modality.
I'll take a photo of my woven Sequoia tomorrow in daylight.
The swatch of the Christo wrapping looks like woven metal, it is woven polypropylene covered in a silvery layer of steamed on aluminium. It is quite sturdy, similar in feel and thickness to material you sometimes find in summer shoes.
Thank you for that clarification. So much can be lost in translation and you're my trusted etymological compass. ;)
So the Christo wrapping is ENTIRELY different than I imagined. So funny to now replace what in my mind was a flowing, billowing, almost gossamer sheet, with sturdy summer shoe material! Hah!
Another essay rich with ideas and beautiful turns of phrase, Kimberly. You have such a gift. I have that Rumi quote framed in my bedroom wall. It’s one of the most powerful collection of words I’ve ever come across.
May we suspend what we think we know so that we may see. Recently I was reading (sorry I cannot recall where) that it's only by releasing everything we think we know about someone that we can be truly empathetic, otherwise we are binding them with our inaccurate perceptions. The author worded it much better than that but that was the idea.
Your bobcat dream is amazing. Arriving where you did about the bobcat and hen and cat being one and then having the ability to share it through beautiful words demonstrates your hefty writing talent, as does your use of the word gustnado! That is a word I did not know and now love.
Well done Kimberly on blowing our minds with this exceptional work.
Isn’t that a fun word! Sounds made up but it’s the perfect description of those little dusty whirlwinds.
Veronika shared in her comment that a Tibetan Buddhist monk (determined by brain scan imaging) was able to see everything anew. Imagine how “present moment” one must be in order for that to happen! Surely this kind of direct experiencing would open channels of empathy and true seeing, like you shared.
And thank you for your kind encouragement! I never know how these little essays will land and sometimes hesitate to even send, but I’m glad I did!
I love this so much Kimberly! I too love the unknowing, it is why I create. It is the space where I am most free, pure, untethered, and most whole. For much of life my creativity found expression as a dancer and choreographer and now, later in life, I catch words and then play with them- they seem to swirl around my little office and I just grab them. It is like leaping from a mountain top, with nothing but faith and wonder - - no parachute needed because on the way down we grow wings - - and they are beautiful.
Thank you Andrea! Funny you should say that about dancing, this was where I initially found my creative expression and freedom too. And even though I don’t dance anymore, writing feels like it originates in my body, I have to feel the preverbal feelings and then find words that best encapsulate those feelings. I love that your process involves words almost like dancers in your room, grabbing them, pulling them into your musing. “no parachute needed because on the way down we grow wings…” So beautiful Andrea!
Terrific essay! Kimberly, you are explaining the essence of creativity. I want to build on your so smart essay--and I talk about how creativity works here: https://marytabor.substack.com/p/inspiration-versus-perspiration -- Hope you get a chance to read and comment there.
I remember talking about your creative process in our interview and it felt deeply resonant with my own. Thanks for sharing your exploration on this topic, I've saved it and will reader this afternoon when I settle down under a blanket with my Substack friends. :)
“When the soul lies down in the grass the world is too full to talk about.” That moment tears right through me, quieting any need to know. Let’s all be earthworms.
Kimberly! Just wow. I had so many thoughts while reading this that I can't even articulate them! I thought of trees and how they talk to each other (something I learned not that all that long ago) and the various "unknowing" things I thought I knew over the decades (and the anxiety I felt while unknowing them, and then peace and wonder that unknowing caused me) and the various identities I either tried on or at least fantasized about and then released over those same decades. I love a good mystery, don't you? Your writing amazes me and causes me to feel amazement. Thank you!
Gosh, what a generous reflections Linda. If my writing can inspire just one mind or heart to "feel amazement" in this world, then I'm happy.
It's true, unknowing ourselves, the identities we thought we needed to survive, can be a radical experience. I love how you express that in the unknowing, you were opened to peace and wonder. We are, this life, all that surrounds, are so much more mystery than known and it is quite beautiful when we surrender to it. Thank you for your thoughtful presence here!
This was breathtakingly stunning. I felt as though I was meditating while reading. I love the notion of unknowing to truly see. Just beautiful. Well done. Time to share.
That's pretty cool Carissa. I felt like I had to get into a more meditative state to write this one. My mind kept on trying to enter with, "But wait, I know this, I know how to say this!" I'm so glad you picked up on some of the meta-energy I was aiming to convey!
So glad you did. My eyes' eyes have been opened to see the world anew.
Awww, thank you for sharing your experience!
When we place ourselves within Nature, what we once thought is true, what we once thought we know, begins to unravel. Humans are not the centre of all things. Humans are one of many, who are best when we cooperate, care and have compassion. If this sounds trite and too simple, it means you are stuck in your old dominating ways of death.
Beautifully stated Perry. "Cooperation, care and compassion" naturally bloom from this understanding, how could it not? We are all participating in life knowing itself in infinite form, ever-connected and ever-changing. Who ever told you this was trite might be feeing very lonely at this moment.
I am so glad I decided to subscribe to you a year ago! This piece is stunningly wise. We have discovered that "writing what you don't know" is the route to original, enjoyable, powerful writing. You expand this into the realm of life and death and show us that we really don't know anything - and are better for it, when we know and accept it.
How am I just discovering you now Allegra!? I am now subscribed to your stack and look forward to learning more about you and your process. Yes, I was very much entering into this piece through death as teacher, my conundrum with the dream, and then I let it take me to all the other unknown realms as well. It's very freeing to allow this unknowing and meet life directly, moment after moment after moment. Thank you for your thoughtful, devoted reading!
Freeing, but it takes courage! You write about many courageous people in this Substack.
Ahh...❣️ Thank you, Kimberly, so very much for this beautiful piece❣️ 💗🙏
So much resonance here. The art of unseeing, which changes everything. Your experience of seeing the Sequoia free from preconception "an invitation to see without predetermination and to lean into the world’s arms with curious trust." reminds me of what Goethe called 'tender empiricism'.
It also reminds me of myself, weaving a Sequoia tree 'with my eyes closed' (= in this case from memory), following an impulse. This was quite some years ago. The woven Sequoia now lives against the backdrop of a granite wall in our house in Portugal.
And speaking of Christo wrapping the Reichstag. I am one of the lucky owners of a small piece of the silver Reichtag's wrapping material (my son was living in Berlin at the time and brought me a little piece of German history as a gift).
And finally, it reminds me of a story neuroscientist Dee Joy Coulter shares in her fascinating book 'Original Mind' where she remembers meeting a Tibetan Buddhist monk who, every time he looked at a flower (or presumably anything), it would appear in front of his eyes (or in his visual cortex) as if seeing it for the very first time!
So much to love here Veronika! "Tender empiricism"—I had to look up empiricism, at first I was confusing it with "imperialism" and that didn't make much sense at all. :) I've been listening to the podcast Telepathy Tapes lately, a deep exploration into non-speaking, autistic children who appear to be extremely telepathic. So prior to this podcast, I likely would've agreed with empiricism, but now, my mind is bending into entirely different ways consciousness potentially operates, the senses only being one modality.
I'd love to see that woven Sequoia! Can you send a photo? They are such majestic trees and I can only imagine how that translated through your memory into fiber. What a lovely experience.
And wow! You have a a swatch of the Christo wrapping! I'm curious, what does it feel like? Is it soft to the touch like cotton, or more sturdy?
I think what Goethe called 'zarte Empirie' in German is more like what you describe as perceiving through some kind of '6th sense' or a telepathic perception. The way Goethe described it is more like connecting to the essential being of a plant, perhaps we could call it a 'soul connection'. The translation into the English 'empiricism' is a little misleading, although it's the same word. So I agree, the so-called 'senses' are channels of a different modality.
I'll take a photo of my woven Sequoia tomorrow in daylight.
The swatch of the Christo wrapping looks like woven metal, it is woven polypropylene covered in a silvery layer of steamed on aluminium. It is quite sturdy, similar in feel and thickness to material you sometimes find in summer shoes.
Thank you for that clarification. So much can be lost in translation and you're my trusted etymological compass. ;)
So the Christo wrapping is ENTIRELY different than I imagined. So funny to now replace what in my mind was a flowing, billowing, almost gossamer sheet, with sturdy summer shoe material! Hah!
There is a photo of a piece of the wrapping here on Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verh%C3%BCllter_Reichstag
Mine looks exactly like that.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verh%C3%BCllter_Reichstag#/media/Datei:MaterialReichstag.JPG
Looks like the creations I used to make as a kid on a potholder loom!
Such an inspiring comment!
Beautifully written. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." To gaze with wonder and a sense of awe into the mystical cloud of unknowing!
Thank you Marilyn. Shakespeare had it right. :) Our essence is irreducible, unboxable, unnamable.
I love your visual: "a musical cloud of unknowing!"
Another essay rich with ideas and beautiful turns of phrase, Kimberly. You have such a gift. I have that Rumi quote framed in my bedroom wall. It’s one of the most powerful collection of words I’ve ever come across.
May we suspend what we think we know so that we may see. Recently I was reading (sorry I cannot recall where) that it's only by releasing everything we think we know about someone that we can be truly empathetic, otherwise we are binding them with our inaccurate perceptions. The author worded it much better than that but that was the idea.
Your bobcat dream is amazing. Arriving where you did about the bobcat and hen and cat being one and then having the ability to share it through beautiful words demonstrates your hefty writing talent, as does your use of the word gustnado! That is a word I did not know and now love.
Well done Kimberly on blowing our minds with this exceptional work.
Isn’t that a fun word! Sounds made up but it’s the perfect description of those little dusty whirlwinds.
Veronika shared in her comment that a Tibetan Buddhist monk (determined by brain scan imaging) was able to see everything anew. Imagine how “present moment” one must be in order for that to happen! Surely this kind of direct experiencing would open channels of empathy and true seeing, like you shared.
And thank you for your kind encouragement! I never know how these little essays will land and sometimes hesitate to even send, but I’m glad I did!
Such a beautiful essay, Kimberly. Thank you for reminding me today that “unknowing” removes the film from our eyes.
You’re so welcome Teyani. Enjoy the view.:)
I love this so much Kimberly! I too love the unknowing, it is why I create. It is the space where I am most free, pure, untethered, and most whole. For much of life my creativity found expression as a dancer and choreographer and now, later in life, I catch words and then play with them- they seem to swirl around my little office and I just grab them. It is like leaping from a mountain top, with nothing but faith and wonder - - no parachute needed because on the way down we grow wings - - and they are beautiful.
Thank you Andrea! Funny you should say that about dancing, this was where I initially found my creative expression and freedom too. And even though I don’t dance anymore, writing feels like it originates in my body, I have to feel the preverbal feelings and then find words that best encapsulate those feelings. I love that your process involves words almost like dancers in your room, grabbing them, pulling them into your musing. “no parachute needed because on the way down we grow wings…” So beautiful Andrea!
This lit me up in all the right places. (I know you know) 🤍🤍
Enjoy the illumination friend.🙏
Terrific essay! Kimberly, you are explaining the essence of creativity. I want to build on your so smart essay--and I talk about how creativity works here: https://marytabor.substack.com/p/inspiration-versus-perspiration -- Hope you get a chance to read and comment there.
I remember talking about your creative process in our interview and it felt deeply resonant with my own. Thanks for sharing your exploration on this topic, I've saved it and will reader this afternoon when I settle down under a blanket with my Substack friends. :)
“When the soul lies down in the grass the world is too full to talk about.” That moment tears right through me, quieting any need to know. Let’s all be earthworms.