Here are a few things I’m sharing this month:
- “To understand this world, one must sometimes turn away from it; to serve men better, one must briefly hold them at a distance. But where can the necessary solitude be found, the long breathing space in which the mind gathers its strength and takes stock of its courage?” – Albert Camus (“The Minotaur, or Stopping in Oran”)
- “For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might be, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” – George Elliot (quoted in the The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl)
Resist the thought that you may need a savior, or another special being to walk beside you. Resist the thought that you are alone. Resist turning your back on the knife of the world’s sorrow, resist turning that knife upon yourself.
Resist the millionth purchase and go backward. Get rid of everything. If you exist, then you are loved by existence. What do you need? A spoon, a blanket, a bowl, a book — maybe the book you give away.
Resist outrageous charts spelling doom. However you can, rely on sun and wind. Resist loss of the miraculous by lowering your standards for what constitutes a miracle. It is all a fucking miracle.
- This sort-of interview between Coleman Barks and Mary Oliver. Especially minutes 3:56 – 6, when Coleman Barks says and then asks: “When I read Mary’s poetry, I assent to every line. I say, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ Her text itself is full of huge, imponderable, unanswerable questions—like ‘What am I supposed to do?’ I love those questions that she fills her poems with and they leave me open, empty, and pleased to have no answers. Is that the way you want it?” Mary Oliver answers: “Yes, that’s absolutely the way I want it.”
5.?New Blogs in my?Football is…?series:
- The Ache of August: “Every August, I feel it. The ache. My body telling me there’s something I should be doing—but I’m not.”
- That One Kid on the Kickoff Team: “Every team has a version of him. He’s that kid with a nose for the ball. It’s what separates him from the rest. Not size. Not speed. Not his vertical leap. His ability to catch the scent.”
- Coach Taking a Breath: “There comes a point in every season—sooner and sooner, it seems—when I feel like I’m done. Done explaining. Done teaching. Done repeating what we’ve been drilling since day one.”
- Football is Soulcraft: “What other experience in a boy’s life—in our culture, in this time—can compel him to turn inward, seek self-knowledge, confront his weaknesses, acknowledge his strengths, and change himself for the sake of something greater?”
6. Projects that are part of my Rewild School ecosystem of courses, curriculum, experiences, and resources:
- How to Change the World: After a 5-year hiatus (you’d have to ask my university the why of the wait), I’m super-excited to be teaching this class again. Its comprehensive do-it-yourself, social-good-project-building-blueprint, one that is accompanied by tools, resources, and how-to-guides, is freely available on the website.
- Flip the Field: This campus-wide, reversal of roles, experiential learning program has student-athletes taking on the role of educators, guiding faculty, administrators, and staff into their athletic worlds. Reach out if you would like to flip your campus.
Thanks so much. And, have a great day! – shawn
