Have you ever had sushi?
A small piece of rice. A small piece of fish.
And it is perfect.
To get something – even pain – in just the right amount, is the greatest joy.
The Dose Makes the Person
It is the most incredible and unexpected present of the last few years that I am now, in almost every way, full. My cup is full. It overruns, even.
I am satisfied and in love with what is around me. (Even as our material security is the most precarious it has been.)
Enough. Genug. Basta.
“Enough” comes from the proto-Germanic ganog and I have enjoyed its raw German version since I learned it in high school:
Genug.It stops and starts. It’s complete. Genug.
Have you ever heard this song by Kraftwerk?
It’s a classical melody and a crisp, refreshing drum track.
It is also just enough. Perfect.
There are short stories that are just enough. Not more, not less. Prayers, as well.
The Spanish basta is a little bit different.
It comes from the Greek βαστάζω, to carry, bear up, carry off.
In other words, what lifts us up, what sustains us.
It is what we need. Not what we want.
That is joy.
Ruled by our wants.
Yes, the personal is political.
True story, Word of Honor:
Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer
now dead,
and I were at a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island.I said, “Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel ‘Catch-22’
has earned in its entire history?”
And Joe said, “I’ve got something he can never have.”
And I said, “What on earth could that be, Joe?”
And Joe said, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.”
Not bad! Rest in peace!
Our system is a symptom of our society just as much as it ratchets us in the same horrible direction: bottomless appetitive, envy, resentment.
On the way down to Tijuana a few weeks, we played the excellent Contrapoints video on Envy.
And it made me realize that we’ve spent way too much time on electoral politics (push) and not enough on social trends (pull).
Here’s hoping we can find our way to being ruled by people who know the meaning of the word “enough”.
People who are not consuming – devouring, destroying – to fill a bottomless hole of insecurity.
A movie I want you to watch.
The movie is called Monkey Man and it is perfect.
It is a violent action thriller. It is also gentle and noble. A liberal fantasy. I can’t recommend it enough.
Good luck to us all, especially to those who do not have what they need.