For Love of Tulips

The Internet provides us with so much to look at and we seem to move from one thing to the next with the barest of attention, liking and faving along the way. Robin Sloan’s simple and powerful essay (free app), called Fish, addresses this issue and asks the question, “What do you love?” He says that if we love something, we come back to it again and again. We pay attention and there are always new dimensions to be found. This made me think about what I come back to again and again – pieces that I would, without hesitation, recommend to anyone.

Here’s my short list.

#1 – Krista Tippett’s interview with Irish writer and philosopher John O’Donohue (On Being).

On Being is one of my favorite podcasts from NPR. I have listened to this episode, called The Inner Landscape of Beauty, at least 5 times. First of all, I love hearing John O’Donohue’s melodic voice. Secondly, each time I listen it is like hearing it for the first time. There is always something new I pick up on – it is that full of wisdom.

#2 – Donella Meadows short essay on human-made lines and interconnection.

Donella Meadows was an environmentalist and systems thinker, who wrote like a poet. This essay, one of my favorites of all time, is hard to find. It is on page 3 of Issue #1 of the now defunct Timeline Magazine. The issue can be downloaded as a pdf at the link above. It begins “The Earth was formed whole and continuous in the Universe, without lines.” And ends with “Even between you and me, even there, the lines are only of our own making.”

#3 – Chris Jordan’s TED Video

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. TED Videos are “rivieting talks, by remarkable people, free to the world.” This truly describes most of the talks I have listened to. As a photographer, I am blown away by this particular talk. Chris Jordan visually presents the hyper-consumption of our Western culture in the most unique way.

#4 – Tara Sophia Mohr’s poetry collection, The Real Life: Poems for Wise Living.

I would bet that Tara’s poetry would resonate with just about anyone. This collection is available for free on her site. I have downloaded it and gone back to it again and again, as well as shared it with others. If you like these poems, Tara published her first book of poetry last December, called Your Other Names (paid link).I gave this book to several of my friends as gifts during the holidays.

#5 – Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich on the subject of Numbers.

Radiolab’s podcasts are always interesting and entertaining. It’s hard to describe them. Their site says it is a show about “curiosity –  where sound illuminates ideas, and  the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.” Numbers was one of the first I listened to and I found it to be magical. I re-visited it later with my daughter.

What do you love?