Category: Contemplative

They say one of the more unexpected perils of being buried in an avalanche is that when you find yourself entirely encased in snow (having been tumbled repeatedly), you simply cannot sense which direction is up. If you were able to get your limbs free and start digging yourself out, the chances are high that you’d start digging the wrong direction; maybe even further down.

There’s a trick though. You spit. You dig out a little cavity around your face and spit. Depending on which direction your spit goes, you can orient yourself—you can determine which end is up!

Have you ever found yourself upended? I’m not necessarily talking about catastrophic circumstances, though they may lead to the upendedness I have in mind. But have you ever found yourself not knowing which end is up? Not knowing whom to trust (even one’s own thoughts), not knowing how to make sense of things, afraid you may be digging yourself further in?

How do you spit? Continue reading “Meta | #Friday500”

Cy Twombly (1928-2011) was an American painter and sculptor. In 2007 his painting Phaedrus was vandalized. Phaedrus is a 2 piece installment. The above painting is the left side. The right side is a canvas painted entirely white. It was the white canvas that was vandalized.

How was it vandalized? It was kissed.The perpetrator paid over €1,500 in fines.

The only way we can make sense of this crime is to realize that the paintings were valued at over $2 million. The restoration costs were nearly $50,000. It was a masterpiece by a master artist. Only then can such a kiss be deemed criminal.

When considering topics related to violence (see the violence and desperation posts), we can make little headway without an underlying basis for human worth. Continue reading “Worth | #Friday500”