Hi,
I want to share a quote that tells a little of how people live, or try to live, on New Island, at least from the stories I’ve heard.
I found it while reading my July 2008 issue of The Sun, a pithy literary magazine that allows no advertising. It’s full of short fiction, in-depth articles about many things people don’t want to deal with, and it’s usually good, sometimes great! (An interview with Eckhart Tolle a few months ago helped me in the basics-of-life department.) The quote, from the Sunbeams page, is by Paul Shepard:
Beneath the veneer of civilization…lies not the barbarian and the animal, but the human in us who knows what is right and necessary for becoming fully human: birth in gentle surroundings, a rich nonhuman environment, juvenile tasks with simple tools,…play at being animals,…clan membership and small-group life, and the profound claims and liberation of ritual initiation and subsequent stages of adult mentorship. There is a secret person undamaged in each of us, aware of the validity of these conditions, sensitive to their right moments in our lives.
The sun’s gone down, I’m low on kerosene, so I’m going to bed.
