Growing pumpkins and tending sheep is exactly what I want to do as well. Instead we are slaves to pay our rent and mortgages and taxes. Together, with like minded people we can thrive and live freer lives. Go out and find your tribe! Thank you Desmet for all you do. You are a voice of reason in a mad world.
Beautiful, you belong to my soul group, as every single sentence is felt by me in the exact same way. It is so sad, how they are fighting, once again young men led in a war, so this time civil war it should be, "they" wanted it for years and the plan is no longer very brillant, as so much of it is in the light now, but still works sufficiently well, many take on their role like puppets on a string. I prefer to call "them" the powers that were, because their reign is already over, but as they go down they take as much and many as possible down with them in their abyss. So lets just stay calm and try to spread love and peace instead of hatred. Thank you very much for your work and carefully written, beautiful essays, that has an impact, important.
Beautiful essay. Thank you. I interviewed my father about his experience of being on the front lines during WW2 in the Philippines fighting the Japanese. My father never spoke about that time in his life but I didn't want him going to his next life without releasing that trauma. So, when he was 85, we sat down to record. He cried many times during the interview. The take away was that no one should ever go to war. He said he would have preferred that the American soldiers and the Japanese soldiers put down their weapons and played poker and drank beers together. He told me that no one should die the way soldiers die. He was acknowledging that those who wage war profit from war but those who actually do the fighting don't have a reason to hate each other. He said he had no problem with Japanese people and didn't want to be sent to kill them. He was on a ship to invade Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped so they turned around and he was sent home. He cried about those who died when the bomb dropped and about how it saved his life. Years later, when I was giving massages to my Japanese friend's parents, my eyes filled with tears as I realized that they were children in Japan during the war. I thought about how amazing it was that the daughter of a WW2 veteran was giving a healing session to people who were labeled as enemies when he was a soldier. We can all sit at a long table and have a meal and drink together - The whole world. Leave the totalitarians at the children's table until they grow up.
I feel that it is through intuition that we will know what we are called to do, and it is absolutely singular and individual, but as we know from the archetype of the hero's or heroine's journey, the hero is always reluctant. And it may not be "doing," as much as it is "being". I just wanted a tiny house in the woods, with a stained glass lamp, my desk made for me by a friend out of thousand year old redwood and a doormat that said "Abandon all hope ye who enter here," as I thought the world would return to its very crooked but forward long arc of justice and progress after the pandemic. Ha! But figuring out if one is reluctant as one has a hard journey before them, or if one is reluctant as one is going the wrong way, perceiving incorrectly, is the difficulty.
I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
J.R.R. Tolkien (2012). “The Lord of the Rings: One Volume”, p.48, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Love this. My sheep, Jersey cows and horses and big garden keep me sane these past few years. Yes, government is irredeemably corrupted and we will have to do something about that soon. But this week, i am sorting out the hay i'll need this winter and planning butchering.
We hear about all the radicals and fundamentalists who are screaming their victimhood. Hoping to be heard by the true base load masses. Who really don’t care and just want it to go away.
Until it’s on their doorstep, then they’ll make it go away.
Dear Mathias, you are too smart for me, but I do love your writings on substack. Last night I gathered around a table and ate and drank with family members. We are all Chicagoans, I left 27 yrs ago and returned for a visit to see new baby family members, attend the Sicilian St Rocco’s feast in a neighbourhood we grew up in, to attend my baby brother’s retirement party, and to catch up with many family and a few old friends, I grew up. In my book, pure joy.
We met last night at Buona Beef, an Italian beef joint. A staple in Chicago (the beef sandwich). We all had a comment on what we loved the best about this mouthwatering “beef”. If you watched the Bear on the Disney channel you would understand. Some had their beef with sweet and hot peppers, some one or the other, sister with serious heartburn had hers plain. Dipped in meat dripping or not.
We talked politics, five of us pro trump, one anti trump pro Kamala, one college age cousin stayed silent. She may have had thoughts but kept them to herself. We talked about the state of healthcare in the USA. Access a major problem. The cost of food, $55 for a 16 inch pizza and an stuffed artichoke…..used to be $20?
Utilities, no where to buy decent clothes, more cost of living issues.
The takeaway…..I am grateful for having brother and sisters, cousins, friends to commune with. We don’t all agree, we all try to make our point, we all love one another. I am forever grateful, and this visit has reminded me to take a deep breath when the going gets awful and know draw on that family, that love, those differences.
I want to simplify my existence. I am simple to begin with. I want to read more and cook better. I want to grow huge community gardens and understand how community works. These technocrats are going to put us back 300 years and it might be best for us all.
Growing pumpkins and tending sheep is exactly what I want to do as well. Instead we are slaves to pay our rent and mortgages and taxes. Together, with like minded people we can thrive and live freer lives. Go out and find your tribe! Thank you Desmet for all you do. You are a voice of reason in a mad world.
You could have been a "hobbit".
Beautiful, you belong to my soul group, as every single sentence is felt by me in the exact same way. It is so sad, how they are fighting, once again young men led in a war, so this time civil war it should be, "they" wanted it for years and the plan is no longer very brillant, as so much of it is in the light now, but still works sufficiently well, many take on their role like puppets on a string. I prefer to call "them" the powers that were, because their reign is already over, but as they go down they take as much and many as possible down with them in their abyss. So lets just stay calm and try to spread love and peace instead of hatred. Thank you very much for your work and carefully written, beautiful essays, that has an impact, important.
Beautiful essay. Thank you. I interviewed my father about his experience of being on the front lines during WW2 in the Philippines fighting the Japanese. My father never spoke about that time in his life but I didn't want him going to his next life without releasing that trauma. So, when he was 85, we sat down to record. He cried many times during the interview. The take away was that no one should ever go to war. He said he would have preferred that the American soldiers and the Japanese soldiers put down their weapons and played poker and drank beers together. He told me that no one should die the way soldiers die. He was acknowledging that those who wage war profit from war but those who actually do the fighting don't have a reason to hate each other. He said he had no problem with Japanese people and didn't want to be sent to kill them. He was on a ship to invade Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped so they turned around and he was sent home. He cried about those who died when the bomb dropped and about how it saved his life. Years later, when I was giving massages to my Japanese friend's parents, my eyes filled with tears as I realized that they were children in Japan during the war. I thought about how amazing it was that the daughter of a WW2 veteran was giving a healing session to people who were labeled as enemies when he was a soldier. We can all sit at a long table and have a meal and drink together - The whole world. Leave the totalitarians at the children's table until they grow up.
I feel that it is through intuition that we will know what we are called to do, and it is absolutely singular and individual, but as we know from the archetype of the hero's or heroine's journey, the hero is always reluctant. And it may not be "doing," as much as it is "being". I just wanted a tiny house in the woods, with a stained glass lamp, my desk made for me by a friend out of thousand year old redwood and a doormat that said "Abandon all hope ye who enter here," as I thought the world would return to its very crooked but forward long arc of justice and progress after the pandemic. Ha! But figuring out if one is reluctant as one has a hard journey before them, or if one is reluctant as one is going the wrong way, perceiving incorrectly, is the difficulty.
I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
J.R.R. Tolkien (2012). “The Lord of the Rings: One Volume”, p.48, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Love this. My sheep, Jersey cows and horses and big garden keep me sane these past few years. Yes, government is irredeemably corrupted and we will have to do something about that soon. But this week, i am sorting out the hay i'll need this winter and planning butchering.
“But one day, after the holidays, I want to get up and say: I’m going to grow pumpkins and zucchinis and sheep . . . “
Why not start now?
The sooner we get our heads out of this social media space, the better.
Cheers!
Well done, I would like to do that too :-)
We hear about all the radicals and fundamentalists who are screaming their victimhood. Hoping to be heard by the true base load masses. Who really don’t care and just want it to go away.
Until it’s on their doorstep, then they’ll make it go away.
When the madness of recent events is a heavy weight to bear, having friends and family greatly relieves the weight.
Thanks for your thoughtful writing!
Nice one - thank you
There is only one Mattias..I love that friend...🥰
The bard in the tree ... obviously > Cancel Culture :^)
https://substack.com/@yuribezmenov/note/c-65237065
This piece is wonderful. I do love you, Matthias Desmet. So kind, so clear, so precise. Thank you.
Dear Mathias, you are too smart for me, but I do love your writings on substack. Last night I gathered around a table and ate and drank with family members. We are all Chicagoans, I left 27 yrs ago and returned for a visit to see new baby family members, attend the Sicilian St Rocco’s feast in a neighbourhood we grew up in, to attend my baby brother’s retirement party, and to catch up with many family and a few old friends, I grew up. In my book, pure joy.
We met last night at Buona Beef, an Italian beef joint. A staple in Chicago (the beef sandwich). We all had a comment on what we loved the best about this mouthwatering “beef”. If you watched the Bear on the Disney channel you would understand. Some had their beef with sweet and hot peppers, some one or the other, sister with serious heartburn had hers plain. Dipped in meat dripping or not.
We talked politics, five of us pro trump, one anti trump pro Kamala, one college age cousin stayed silent. She may have had thoughts but kept them to herself. We talked about the state of healthcare in the USA. Access a major problem. The cost of food, $55 for a 16 inch pizza and an stuffed artichoke…..used to be $20?
Utilities, no where to buy decent clothes, more cost of living issues.
The takeaway…..I am grateful for having brother and sisters, cousins, friends to commune with. We don’t all agree, we all try to make our point, we all love one another. I am forever grateful, and this visit has reminded me to take a deep breath when the going gets awful and know draw on that family, that love, those differences.
I want to simplify my existence. I am simple to begin with. I want to read more and cook better. I want to grow huge community gardens and understand how community works. These technocrats are going to put us back 300 years and it might be best for us all.