Sunday, August 28, 2022

Qarrtsiluni





      
Teju Cole:

There’s a beautiful Inuit word, “qarrtsiluni.” It means “sitting together in the dark, waiting for something to happen.”

*

If you picked up something spiritual or religious in my work, it is because, even after having given up the credal belief, something about the language and the way it plumbs experience has remained intact for me.

*

One thing I do know for sure is that we all need a great deal of help. And a lot of the help that we need is in language, is in the language that has been boiled down to a quintessence so that it’s potent and effective. I continue to find a lot of that language in religious and spiritual traditions, as well as in literature and poetry — in Homer — without centering it on statements of belief, but centering it on experiences of insight or consolation.

*

Well, Virginia Woolf talks about the future being dark. Rebecca Solnit cited this. The future is dark, and that’s the best thing it can be. “The future is dark” doesn’t mean that it’s bad. “The future is dark” means we don’t know. And that, itself, is a consolation. It probably is not going to be our very worst fear. And John Berger talks about the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is “Oh, well, it’s all gonna be fine.”

*

First I listened to the edited version and then the unedited version, both while doing my yoga practice.  Time well spent.

*

Gouache and watercolor by am:


Calendar Series:    41st Month / Letters from the North and South Fork of the Night River (1989)



5 comments:

Colette said...

Thanks for making me think this morning.

NewRobin13 said...

I love this work of art, am. It's so beautiful. Interesting quotes too. Thank you.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Agree with what Colette says Red lots of food for thought in what you have to say.

37paddington said...

That is a beautiful art piece, am. The larger world needs to know your work!

Joared said...

Lovely piece of art and thought-provoking words.