76. Hardness

Living people
are soft and tender.
Corpses are hard and stiff.
The ten thousand things,
the living grass, the trees,
are soft, pliant.
Dead, they’re dry and brittle.

So hardness and stiffness
go with death;
tenderness, softness,
go with life.

And the hard sword fails,
the stiff tree’s felled.
The hard and great go under.
The soft and weak stay up.1

Source: Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin

1 In an age when hardness is supposed to be the essence of strength, and even the beauty of women is reduced nearly to the bone, I welcome this reminder that tanks and tombstones are not very adequate role models, and that to be alive is to be vulnerable. (Footnote by Ursula Le Guin)

Published on February 17, 2022 at 6:00 by
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A city walk

Walking through the Spoortuin i made some photos from early flowers. Here you see some crocuses.
Snowdrops
Crocuses
In the center of town. High buildings and bare trees.
Central Station at the back
A new flatbuilding in the shopping center of Rotterdam
Daffodils. Not sure how environmentally friendly these are. They are forced to flower a bit earlier than usual i think.
Published on February 16, 2022 at 6:00 by
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Rhythm

Last week i saw Marli Huijer’s reading about the loss of rhythm in the corona lockdown time. For the first time it became clear to me the great loss in social and interpersonal relationships these lockdowns have caused. The daily, weekly and yearly rhythms we are accustomed to were diminished. Holidays were no longer an usual part of our routines. Public holidays like Christmas and Eastern were less celebrated with fewer people present.

For me this was less the case. For the past seven years i have been working on this website, ellenpronk.com with a very strict rhythm: five updates a week, each published six o’clock in the morning, five weeks of holidays a year. This rhythm has kept me sane over the past years. This rhythm made it possible for me to live my life as i was used to. I still made walks, lockdown wasn’t as severe as in other countries where you needed to stay home the whole day.

I am partly living outside the commonplace working life rhythm most adult people have here in western Europe. I don’t have a house anymore, i don’t have a job, i don’t have a regular income. I am not sure what the future entails.

But why would i need to be sure? Why not live my life as free as i can? Why worry so much about money? I do worry, i know that. It is very hard to get away from that worry. Sometimes i succeed, but it does come back.

Each life lived here on this earth needs a steady rhythm to feel healthy. Day after night, week after week, the moons growing fuller and lesser, the seasons turning into each other.

I do feel happy in my life. I hopefully can make a difference in this world. Fingers crossed.

Salute!

Published on February 11, 2022 at 6:00 by
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The Physics and Philosophy of Time

An interesting reading about the nature of time. He dismantles time taking apart four different aspects of time:

  1. Time is different in different areas of the universe, depending on the gravity experienced in that specific place.
  2. Now is a moment only experienced in small space in the universe. When we look at an event on Jupiter, we can only see it on this earth two hours after it has happened.
  3. Entropy always grows towards the future.
  4. Order is in the eye of the observer.

While i was looking into this video, i discovered Carlo Rovelli, the speaker, wrote a book The Order of Time published in 2018. I haven’t ordered it, but i might. I will look into this for a day or so longer.

Published on February 10, 2022 at 6:00 by
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75. Greed

People are starving.
The rich gobble taxes,
that’s why people are starving.

People rebel.
The rich oppress them,
that’s why people rebel.

People hold life cheap.
The rich make it too costly,
that’s why people hold it cheap.

But those who don’t live for the sake of living
are worth more than the wealth-seekers.

Source: Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin

Published on February 8, 2022 at 6:00 by
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What do i do?

My life lately has been difficult. I am scared. My future lack of money, my future descent into nothingness. So it seems. But i am also elated, joyful, happy. I trust myself and my work. They will save me.

I hope.

Today, Thursday, i got out of bed around a quarter to five in the morning. Yesterday evening i felt so happy. It was hard to contain.

I’m tired. But it will get better. Over the past few weeks.

Salute!

Published on February 4, 2022 at 6:00 by
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