aware

My mind continues to swim in Japanese lore…maybe it always has done. A friend provided this wiki-distillate of mono no aware ~ paraphrased ~ a pathos or empathy toward physical things and a wistful awareness of transience.

mono no aware (もののあはれ) ~ ‘the ah-ness of things’ or ‘an empathy toward things’ or ‘a sensitivity to ephemera’

Wikipedia ~ Link

It will probably already be clear from preceding posts, I am afflicted with もののあはれ (mono no aware) to the point it verklempts me even to type about it.

My friend, for context, lives on a boat and though he has not said so, I suspect his mono no aware ties in closely with his beloved seafaring 47 foot home. I still find gravity in that last sentence, but friend has clarified ~ he ‘finds mono no aware generally in life and experiences’ a sort of melancholy and appreciation of beauty in transience.

For my part, I seek objects with a spiritual weight and history to them. I make a practice of attaching a form of worship in the understanding that many of these objects will linger well past the moment I am gone. This sense offers a sort of emotional significance in place and time, a sentimentality that comforts. Nearly every piece of my home has some gravity akin to this for me ~ even if it derives only from the pragmatism of repeated use.

dusty mineral spiral

Random idea ~

I want to open a beer and cider only pub called Falstaff’s Knee. The sign will be a full bent and greaved left leg with the words extending off the kneecap.

Patrons will refer to being at Falstaff’s Knee as being ‘on’ in stead of being ‘in’ or ‘at’

We will stock ketchup and hp sauce in glass bottles and they will all be intentionally half full.

If this idea appeals and you are a multi-millionaire with money to invest wildly (all the millionaires read this blog) and want to provide seed money with no creative control and no expectation of return, please do reach out to me.

Gammy Burrell reading to me. That’s an odd nutcracker shoulder in the fore.

Playlist ~

I make a weekly 19 track playlist of songs that are sticking in mind. This week’s featuring The Pointer Sisters, LCD Soundsystem, Arlo Parks and 16 others can be found here:

Please note, while I am a complete Spotify addict, I make an effort to by physical copies (vinyl, tapes, cd’s) of the albums I rely on in order to support artists more directly and you should too ~

A collection of sacred Albion sites. Courtesy of Weird Walk.
background – ‘Earthling‘ coat piece courtesy of Sarah C and Tanya T circa 2008 foreground – candles from Mithras.

2 thoughts on “aware

    1. I think In lost the first reply to all of this…so here goes again…. Japanese Lore……I can get why…for you. ….. their inscrutable true thoughts, covered by an incredible amount of social convention of courtesy, and communitarian social convention, not to mention a simplicity and direct way of living, in very close quarters. Also, love all of the stuff about stone circles..I have some stuff about this here at home, but I would have you check out the great North American Medicine Wheels, of the 1st peope’s on the great plains……courtesy of Atlas Obscura. When I visited Cahokia (IL) with Pete and Nanette a couple of years ago, we saw a “wood henge” set up by the Mississippians which was huge and complex, but made of wood so it has been necessary to reconstruct it. I Assume the Tanya T. you refer to is The Tanya I know…..who is Sarah?? You blog is always interesting..even if it is over my head sometime…. xxoo dad

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