Unsolicited Recommendations n.5
Multiplicity, misunderstanding, and uncertainty
We’re still deep in the moment when the year has waned in the northern hemisphere. The light - what little there is - is subdued. The days are very short. As much as I enjoy how quiet and still the world is, at this distance from the sun I feel muffled. The nadir of our seasonal and energetic cycle is by turns cosy and sluggish.
Ross Simonini (see more below; this is quoted from a stunning essay which I heartily recommend) writes:
The vicissitudes of life demand that we change constantly and no method of thought will be able to address every change. It is essential to accept this uncertainty.
This is what I remind myself of when the darkness feels oppressive. The vicissitudes of the seasons are also changing constantly. In the midst of our climate crisis, it seems realistic to expect that we have passed the point at which we will be able to address every seasonal change. And still, it is essential to accept this uncertainty, and uncertainty in many other forms.
For me, this acceptance is a small way to unwrap the muffler and stay awake in moments when I’d rather be not just wintering (à la Katherine May, see below), but full-on asleep and hibernating.
Unsolicited Recommendations
Steve Edwards’ essay on misunderstanding others, which twists and turns through many topics.
This phenomenal read by Ross Simonini about why we don’t need to just do one thing.
A poem of uncertainty: [There’s silence between one page and another] by Valerio Magrelli, tr. Jonathan Galassi.
I’m sure many of you have heard of it many times, but it wouldn’t be right to omit Katherine May’s lovely book, Wintering, from this wintery list.
Questions to Ask in the dark.