51\u00a0 bar falls 29.82 4mph SSE dewpoint 28 Spring<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waxing Gibbous Moon of\u00a0 Growing<\/p>\n
“To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be.” – Miguel de Unamuno<\/p>\n
Unamuno has slipped from awareness, it seems, but this Spanish existentialist, poet and author speaks truth even when it is uneasy and unpleasant.\u00a0 Here’s some brief information about him:<\/p>\n
Spanish philosopher. In Del sentimento tr\u00e1gico de la vida en los hombres y en los pueblos<\/cite> {at Amazon.com<\/a><\/font>} (The Tragic Sense of Life<\/cite>) (1913) {at Amazon.com<\/a><\/font>}, Unamuno described human existence as torn between the irrational hope for immortality and the rational expectation of death. Since faith can never outweigh reason, Unamuno supposed, the best we can achieve is a life of authentic<\/a> struggle with the human predicament.<\/p>\n Recommended Reading: Miguel De Unamuno, Three Exemplary Novels<\/cite>, tr. by Angel Flores (Grove, 1987) {at Amazon.com<\/a><\/font>}; Victor Ouimette, Reason Aflame: Unamuno and the Heroic Will<\/cite> (Yale, 1986) {at Amazon.com<\/a><\/font>}; and Gemma Roberts, Unamuno: afinidades y coincidencias kierkegaardianas<\/cite> (Colorado, 1986) {at Amazon.com<\/a><\/font>}.<\/p>\n The house party for the Power 2 Change campaign had three attendees:\u00a0 Frank Broderick, Bill Sutherland, and Ann, a former school teacher.\u00a0 Jessica, a Sierra Club worker, attended to explain the campaign.\u00a0 She fell into a trap the young activist often does, asking too little of her audience.\u00a0 She kept referring to the things that were easy:\u00a0 talk to a friend, sign the petition, read the literature, volunteer at the Sierra Club for a phone bank.\u00a0 George Bush made the same disastrous mistake after 9\/11.\u00a0 He reassured us and asked to go shopping.\u00a0 That’ll show’em.<\/p>\n People want to sacrifice, to do the difficult thing.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because when we sacrifice, or do something that stretches us, we become engaged.\u00a0 We know in our gut; this is important.\u00a0 If it’s not important or significant, don’t bother me with it.\u00a0 If it is important, figure out a way I can take action.\u00a0 Help me find others, then assist us in getting our handles on the levers of power.\u00a0 That’s the way change happens.\u00a0<\/p>\n As often happens to me, as I write this, especially with Unamuno dangling just above these words, the pointed finger takes on an impossible curve and aims straight at my chest.\u00a0 I know in my gut that climate change and the energy issues are important, perhaps the important issues of my generation and certainly ones in which we are culpable and therefore responsible.\u00a0 So, in addition to the work I need to do on other writing projects and at the MIA, I need to pick up this challenge, too, as I agreed to do last September in Iowa.\u00a0 I’ve done too little and I can do more.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kate’s snacks and party layout, on the other hand, were delicious and beautiful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 51\u00a0 bar falls 29.82 4mph SSE dewpoint 28 Spring \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waxing Gibbous Moon of\u00a0 Growing “To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be.” – Miguel de Unamuno Unamuno has slipped from awareness, it seems, but this Spanish existentialist, poet and author speaks truth even when it is uneasy and unpleasant.\u00a0 Here’s … Continue reading The Tragic Sense of Life<\/span>