“I’m not an expert on much, but I’m curious,
easily confused, even lost, and often in need of finding a way through and out.
Writing has been my primary way of puzzling out one bafflement in order to plunge
into the next...[W]riting is sometimes a form of prayer for me.”
- Parker J. Palmer,
On the Brink of Everything:
Grace, Gravity & Getting Old
(Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Oakland,
California, 2018),
pages 87 and 98.
Today’s
blog post is a celebration of the Quaker sage, Parker Palmer. I have just
finished his latest book, quoted above. And what a marvel of wisdom, humility,
and humanity it is.
I first encountered
Parker Palmer in 1998 when I read his seminal book for educators, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner
Landscape of a Teacher’s Life (Jossey-Bass Publishers), a book that became
a touchstone for my classroom practice. I was privileged to participate in a
retreat Palmer led in 1999 in rural Pennsylvania. My autographed copy of The Courage to Teach is a treasured
possession.
His new
book is an extended meditation on aging. He is now 80 years old. The book not
only looks back with candour; it also looks ahead to the challenges
of ageing – an integration of past wisdom with future potential. And he finds
much to baffle and confuse him. By recasting bafflement and confusion as gifts
rather than obstacles, he adds a sense of wonder and humanity to his journey.
It is a
marvellous read – nourishment for the soul.
The book
speaks to me profoundly as a photographer. At the risk of being presumptuous,
let me reword the opening quotation: “Photography has been my primary way of
puzzling out one bafflement in order to plunge into the next...photography is
sometimes a form of prayer for me.”
Indeed,
photography is a form of prayer for me. A way to address doubts, confusions,
and ambiguities. A way to navigate bafflement and find beauty in unexpected
places.
My
photography is better because of Parker Palmer.
I hope you
enjoy these photos, all recorded in the last two weeks in Hastings and Prince
Edward Counties.
If you wish
to explore Parker Palmer further, please check out these YouTube links:
The Primacy
of the Soul (4 minutes Link )
The Wisdom
of the Heart (3 minutes, 11 seconds Link)
Living from
the Inside Out (18 minutes, 58 seconds Link)
“Abide” –
Carrie Newcomer sings a poem by Parker Palmer (4 minutes, 13 seconds Link)
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