A musician friend of mine gave me a few chapters from The Dance of Life by Edward T. Hall, a study of how rhythms shape our individual lives and the way we interact with other people. It's intriguing enough that I'll be reading the rest of the book, once I get my hands on it.
Anyway, just came across this passage that resonated with me and thought I'd share. Discussing the different rhythms of Anglo-European American culture and Native American culture, Hall points out that before Anglo-Europeans build a house, they buy the land and secure the financing. Pueblo Indians, he says, do the same things but have one more precondition:
"Before a shovel of earth can be turned, all the right thoughts must be present. The Pueblos believe that thoughts have a life of their own and that these live thoughts are an integral part of any man-made structure and will remain with that structure forever. Thoughts are as essential an ingredient as mortar and bricks."
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
You Never Know (or, My summer reading so far)
I tucked into my first book of the vacation ready for some intellectual stimulation. Just because the sun is out doesn't mean I can't learn something that might improve me professionally, right?
The Black Swan turned out to be (as advertised) well-written and well-argued. Also an incredibly subversive read for a girl with a specialty in financial services who makes her living writing speeches for corporate types. This book could get me fired, I thought, even as I giggled my way guiltily through the author's dissection of...well, all the things that pay my mortgage, like narrative and causality and forecasting.
So my next selection - Brother Ray, the autobiography of Ray Charles - is turning out to be lemon sorbet for my overstimulated brain. And while I thought I would be reading it from my perspective as a musician, the speechwriter in me is extremely impressed at how the co-author, David Ritz, has captured Charles' voice perfectly.
The Black Swan turned out to be (as advertised) well-written and well-argued. Also an incredibly subversive read for a girl with a specialty in financial services who makes her living writing speeches for corporate types. This book could get me fired, I thought, even as I giggled my way guiltily through the author's dissection of...well, all the things that pay my mortgage, like narrative and causality and forecasting.
So my next selection - Brother Ray, the autobiography of Ray Charles - is turning out to be lemon sorbet for my overstimulated brain. And while I thought I would be reading it from my perspective as a musician, the speechwriter in me is extremely impressed at how the co-author, David Ritz, has captured Charles' voice perfectly.
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