the human picture

My friend Jordan, recently wrote about matchbooks. A picture of a few she liked, looked to me like match boxes. I ran into something that might be called a match book when I was traveling abroad. It was a folded piece of carton, with matches stapled in. But for all I know, perhaps in English, all containers of matches are called matchbooks.

In any case, she wrote of an old friend of hers from her teenage days, a fellow by the name of Steve, who made quite an impression on her, and they kept in touch all these years. He runs a radio show now, in Canton, which I believe is Canton, China. In some random post, he had mentioned that he started collecting matchbooks, and since Jordan had just recently begun photographing matchbooks, she started collecting some of the interesting ones, to send to Steve.

She was traveling, at the time, in India, and she said that once she got started on the subject of matchbooks, she would feel an anticipation, as she moved from one town to the next, wondering, what sort of matchbooks she might find in the next place. She said she found different matchbooks in every place she went, and often the picture on the matchbook could draw her into meditation.

Her story reminded me of my own experiences with match boxes. As long as I can remember, there was only one company that made matches here in Israel. But from time to time, they would change the graphics on the cover of the box. And after each change, the sight of an old matchbox would remind me of the period in my life when that matchbox appeared.

I don’t know if I’m a hoarder. I suppose I am, but I don’t see myself that way. But I do keep all kinds of souvenirs. Until the house gets too crowded, and then I start throwing things away. I kept the old match boxes for quite some time, because they reminded me of different periods, and I had an attachment to them, but at some point, it became a bit of a burden, and I threw most of them away. But there was one set that I especially liked. I don’t know who designed them, but there were drawings of animals on each match box. And during that time, which was in the late 80s, a new animal appeared on the match box just about every month. When I threw away the others, I kept these, and they sit on a book shelf, in front of some books in my library.

If you were to ask me, on principle, I would say, the lighter the better. Possessions weigh you down. You have to take care of them. You have to move them from place to place. You have to clean them. No, it’s much better to make do with the minimum. I have traveled on long journeys… for long periods of time, many times with just a knapsack on my back. And with a knapsack, you are quite aware of the weight that you’re carrying around. At first I had a rather large pack, so that I could fit all kinds of things inside. I used to carry books!

But the more experience I had, the more simple my possessions became. When first I started traveling, I had two suitcases. That’s because you can carry two. One in each hand. But the problem is, that you lose the use of your hands. That’s one of the wonderful things about a knapsack. You can carry a lot, and still have two hands free. But still, the life I lived wasn’t that simple. There were times when I needed a portable typewriter with me. Other times, it became so crucial not to get weighted down, that I wrote in a bound book, filled with white pages. I filled up quite a few such books, with an even handwriting, writing with a fountain pen on the paper.

But it’s been many years now, that I’ve been living in the same home. It has quite a bit of space. And you know, the more space you have, the more you can accumulate. Sometimes, it takes a sign, to get a person to thinking about throwing things out. I remember once, I was sleeping peacefully in my bed, when a shelf full of books, attached to the wall high above me, collapsed, almost burying me in books. Waking up, in the midst of the avalanche, I thought that an earthquake had finally struck our town. But it turned out to be nothing more sinister than an overweight of books.

Looking for these match boxes reminded me of how many possessions I have. All of them are dear to me for one reason or another. But at times, they are an imposition. And especially after reading of my friend Janet’s redecoration of her apartment, and the joy she felt when she started out again with white walls, made me think that maybe the time has come to lighten up. Of course, no sooner do we complete a reordering of our material possessions, than we become aware of all the things we are carrying in our minds… and in our hearts… But that is another story, that should be told another day.

Though I’ve lived all my life in the city, my children have chosen, for the most part, to live in the country. And when I visit with them, as I did last week, I am reminded, not only of the pleasures of country life, but of the fact that nowadays, in the era of the internet and the cell phone, many of the advantages of city life are available to those who choose to live in the country too. Of course, there is more need for a car… and often there is more than one to a family. And one can’t just walk down the block to pick up groceries and household needs. The children often have to be taken to see friends and to participate in activities.

but just like in the city, the kids are connected to the computer…

But people live closer to nature; are freer in their relationships to pets and animals, and enjoy large gardens, and large homes too. Adults and children can bicycle around without the constant fear of traffic. And there is plenty of open space.

sculpture by the door

Many young couples have moved to a village in order to improve the quality of their lives, even though they continue to work in the city. And though it means losing some time, commuting to work, it seems that the advantages are still very attractive. In the last generation, we have seen quite an increase in ‘bedroom communities’ where people chose to live, even though they can’t hope to find work close to home.

sculpture in the back yard

This time, the visit was of a personal nature. And as it turned out, I didn’t do any photography at all, But there are plenty of pictures from other times. The trip to Sileet was quite rainy, and there were heavy clouds overhead. But now, back in Jerusalem, we are waiting for snow. We’ve been told that this will be a white Sabbath, and the children here in the neighborhood are anticipating this ultimate winter weather with excitement.

what I like about living in the country

I am about to head out this morning, for a huge family get together in the town of Siliyt, a bit to the north. I was going to leave early in the morning… because there is a general strike going on here in Israel, for good reason, I believe. I’m not sure. Because I haven’t really studied the issue. And I know that sometimes the media misrepresents what’s going on… But my impression is that this strike is justified. Even so, I don’t identify with it so much that I wouldn’t mind crawling through tedious traffic jams in its honor. And though it’s Friday today, and that is the first day of our weekend, and therefore, a day on which there usually is only minimal traffic; since the train is on strike too, in all likelihood a lot of people who don’t usually get out on the road, will be using their cars, or will take a bus. And so, I was going to leave early.

But I was also going to write a post on the blog… yesterday, according to plan. My intention was to write it yesterday, and then post it today… so you wouldn’t even notice the difference. But things came up. And as they say, time moves quickly when you’re having fun. The reason for the gathering, is a very important birthday that Roy, my grandson, is going to celebrate this weekend. I don’t usually celebrate birthdays. When I have a birthday of my own, it’s my custom to hide away, and fast all day, occupied with soul searching. But if someone is celebrating, I try to join in the spirit of the occasion.

And so, I’ve been thinking about what I could say to a young man at the start of his life, that might add something to the day.

Sometimes I read a piece of writing, or look at a work of art, and I am struck by the disparity between the talent of the individual, and their obvious lack of self discipline. My guess is that it’s a sign of the times. If someone was born in Butte, Montana, and had the English language bubbling around him all the days of his life, he might just think that nobody should tell him how to speak or write, and that grammar and spelling are for those who don’t feel as comfortable with the language as he does. And likewise, in other forms of art, if someone has been blessed with a natural talent, and is able to translate a vision, captured in his or her mind, on to paper, canvas, computer or a structure of any sort, and thus share his or her vision with countless others… who remind this artist with regularity, that he or she is a hell of a good fellow, and touches the hearts of the public… of what importance is studying the conventions of the art world, or art history for that matter? What could possible be gained by spending long hours in trivial considerations of rules invented by academics, or masters long dead?

But strangely enough, this attitude of laissez faire creativity has not been universally accepted in other fields of human endeavor. If a person gets it into his head that he wants to climb mount Everest, he doesn’t usually go to the nearest sports depot, buy a walking stick… and then go off to conquer the mountain. Nor does a person who has had the luck to inherit a large sum of money, start investing on the stock exchange, without first studying a bit about trade and tendencies, and observe with great intensity, what has happened to others who invested before him. I am not speaking of those occupations in which one cannot find gainful employment without producing some sort of evidence of having studied the profession and having received accreditation. Even on the open market, , and in the purchase of a home or a car, people usually wish to learn quite a bit before plunging in. And in sports, as in music, it is generally accepted that a devotion to practice, and long hours of developing skills, is essential to succeeding in the field of one’s choice… So, what is it about the arts?

On the other hand, is there any point in an old grandfather giving advice to a young man about to discover the world? Some of us still chuckle over the line in ‘The Graduate’, when that young man was advised to go into ‘plastics’. Now if it had been computers, we might think that there was a telling hint of what the future had to offer. But plastics… we are still trying to figure out how to recycle that material before we all choke on the disposable utilities we so enjoyed.

The photos above are of almond blossoms.

A few weeks back, I wrote about time, stressing that what was most important was the present, and that sometimes there is that temptation to get lost in the past or in preparations for the future. The present is the life we are leading, but of course the present is part of the weave of life that includes both the past and the future. But even when we are aware of that, we often find ourselves taking things for granted, or so obsessed by what we’re doing, that we don’t really appreciate the present. For those of us with a religious point of view, the awareness engendered by that framework can sometimes be of great help in living the present while being aware of all those things that usually intrude on our enjoyment of the passing day.

But religion itself, and many of the frameworks of religious teaching, are influenced to a great extent by both the teacher and the student. We liken the torah to water, and those who study it to vessels that hold that water. And as you know, sometimes a vessel lends its own taste to the liquid within, for good or bad… and he that drinks it, can taste the vessel too. In that connection, I am reminded of the wooden barrels in which fine whiskey is aged…

charity will save one from death

A person can hear the greatest wisdom, and misunderstand it because he is occupied with himself, and interprets whatever he hears as it might apply to him. I think that this problem has lead to a certain resentment towards religion in certain quarters, and sometimes even an antagonism to it, though none of us are doing religion a favor by accepting some of its wisdom, just as we wouldn’t be doing technology a favor by using the computer or the telephone. For instance, I remember walking by a charity box near one of my favorite markets in a nearby neighborhood, and I saw a big sign, saying, “charity will save one from death’. The message was so emphasized, that I wondered if those who had put up the sign had intended to confuse the giver. Charity can sometimes save a needy person from death… and sometimes too, not being able to find charity in one’s self, is a sort of death… but there is something cynical about such signs, and that sort of message can be very alienating.

a winter reflection at the white park in Jerusalem

When thinking about living in the present, it occurs to me, that one of the best tests of whether we are truly enjoying the present, is to think, if my end was approaching, would this be what I would be doing today. I have been in the situation, immediately after one of my heart attacks, when a kind doctor told me that if there were any arrangements I wanted to make before I died, this would be the right time. Of course, at the time, the only thing I wanted was to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. But as luck would have it, my situation was not quite as terrible as they feared, and I have continued to live for a number of years since that time. But if this was my last day, I wouldn’t mind writing in this blog… I wouldn’t mind going for a walk either… It might be even a greater pleasure. But it is just as good writing this post. Even if we are doing something that is not the greatest thrill we might imagine… if we’re putting our hearts in it, and thoroughly enjoying what we’re doing, then life is good.

it saddened me to hear that Kodak was going out of business, this week

That doesn’t mean that it is illegitimate to do back breaking work, or cry our eyes out at times. That too is an important part of life. What we have to do, though, is live the experience as well as we can, with perspective and proportion, while remaining who we are despite the intensity of the experience.