vol 7. monthly recs & rabbit holes

perfect days, sci-fi bookstores, speed of the soul

Sourced from issue no. 47 of Rabbit Holes:

Here are the visuals, words, poetry, and art so far that stirred my soul for the month of April:

1. 💻 Open this issue in your web browser (not phone) at a time where you have at least 30 mins to read.

2. ☕ Grab hot tea or coffee

3. 👚 Change into something comfortable and ideally sit against some fluffy pillows, with your computer on your lap at a 45 degree angle

4. Light a candle 🕯️

5. 💨 Take 5 breaths and listen to this meditation

6. Meditate on a question you have and run it by this iching reader

7. 🎵 Press play for music. Listen while you read this issue.

poetics & art.

Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink the wild air.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Perfect Days (2023) dir. Wim Wenders

If life can remove people you never dreamt of losing, it can replace them with someone you never dreamt of having.

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”

— Erich Fromm

[architecture] futuristic bookstore in jiangsu, china

Architect Li Xiang's philosophy: "In a fast-paced modern society where many have lost the ability to dream, this space offers a retreat from reality — a place to reflect, detach, and rediscover oneself. Briefly escaping from reality is a genuine way to rediscover oneself. "

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[architecture] cultural square library in Changzhou

words.

[person] meet marzieh

appreciated peering into her life as a boutique owner in paris :)

“It’s nature, it’s life. I’ll take it however it comes. Honestly, it doesn’t scare me. At 65, I’ve done it all. I’m moving on. As [my partner] Daniel always says, we have maybe 10 years, 20 years, ahead of us. We’re going to take advantage of it. I still like doing new things. I know that, from the moment I retire, I will earn a lot less. But that doesn’t scare me. I’ll lose the income, but maybe I will gain something else. I don’t know exactly what that might be, but I’ll take it anyway.”

— on aging

[research paper] The Lost Confucian Philosopher: Gu Hongming and the Chinese Religion of Good Citizenship

The economic and political expansion of modern Western civilization was also accompanied by a moral crisis that featured unremitting clashes of utilitarian and reformative values with conventional social ideals and structures. Drawing upon classical Confucian teachings and the aesthetic ideals of modern Romantic thinkers, Gu proposed that the ultimate solution to the major problems of modernity, such as decaying social and international solidarity, destructive materialism and commercialism, and abusive racial and nationalistic prejudices, must be a moral and cultural solution.

In essence, Gu held that truth, understood in its deepest and broadest sense as the sense of honor and truthfulness in one’s engagement with persons and things, is of universal and eternal appeal among all humankind. As a living tradition, the value of the traditional Confucian social order consists in its continuous personification of the law of the gentleman, which inspires ordinary persons to realize this sense of honor and truthfulness by fulfilling their individual roles and responsibilities. The Confucian ideal of civilization is not “infinite happiness” or “self-indulgence” for everybody, but “the complete and perfect ‘realization of true moral being—the sense of obligation—and moral order in mankind so that the Universe shall become a cosmos and all things can attain their full growth and development’

In Gu’s view, the true meaning of civilization in classical Confucian teaching was precisely what John Ruskin had revealed as the “making of the civil person. The spirit of civilization consisted in the ideal types of personalities who were able to realize the universal truth of humanity. Resorting to Matthew Arnold and Chinese poet Su Dongpo’s interpretations, Gu stated that both Christianity and Confucianism were, first and foremost, “a temper, a disposition.” Likewise, “civilization is also, first and above all, a state of mind and heart: a spiritual life.” The essence of civilization “is not dress, house, furniture, machine, ship or gun, but—gentleness of mind and heart. The “chief and one aim of civilization,” therefore, is not “to make and teach men to be strong, but to make and teach men to be gentle.”

[essay] a time we never knew

There is a beautiful and melancholic word I like called anemoia. It means nostalgia for a time or a place one has never known.

This is a sentiment I often sense from my generation, Gen Z—especially in recent years. I see it in the YouTube videos of old concerts that get millions of views. I see it in our fascination with polaroids, vinyls, vintage cameras, and VHS tapes.

[trend] Lotteries to Cowshed Cafés: How China’s Small Coffee Shops Survive

With temples becoming increasingly popular among young Chinese seeking solace from the rat race, some have opened cafés within traditional Buddhist or Taoist temples. According to Trip.com, bookings for temples and religious sites saw a 310% increase in February 2023, with nearly half made by individuals born in the 1990s and 2000s.

Among the most popular are Cibei Coffee, its name meaning “mercy,” at Yongfu Temple in the eastern city of Hangzhou and Jianfo Coffee, meaning “meet the Buddha,” at Longxing Temple in nearby Taizhou. Both aim to set themselves apart by incorporating elements of traditional culture into their names, designs, and products.

After quitting her government job last September, Zhao Qian opened her first coffee shop alongside a scenic rural road in Jingxian County, in the eastern Anhui province.

BABY HAIR WHORL, SPIRALLING GALAXY, AMMONITE. Credit/gratitude to PATTERNITY & @ANNA_SPIRALS

[essay] the power of the whole

I was beginning to intuit what I later came to understand very clearly: that so many of the crises we face – from climate collapse to racial and economic inequity, addiction, polarisation, threats to democratic institutions and so much more – are deeply, inextricably entwined, and rooted in stories of separation¹ from our greater whole: our whole selves, each other, our natural world and the beyond (however we choose to characterise that).

I was not however convinced – as some have argued – that this is simply a matter of ‘heal yourself to heal the world’. 

In fact I saw a huge amount of narcissism and spiritual bypassing² in the wellness and personal development spheres I encountered in that side of my life.

I don’t believe any of us can be truly well in a sick society, and that toxic cultures make us ill³, so pursuits of ‘wellness’ must extend to creating wellbeing in our communities and for our Earth. I don’t believe we can simply meditate our way to world peace. I strongly believe we all have a beautiful, moral duty to move our world in the direction of justice, to help each other reach toward the possibility of thriving for all life and future generations, and to dismantle and reimagine the systems and structures that obstruct those paths

thanks for coming down the rabbit hole with me today. for the full issue you can jump down 🕳️🐇