This all-encompassing interview from the 2009 Wisconsin Book Festival, “Wendell Berry Talks About Life,” was the perfect thing to wake up to on a Sunday morning.
Whether you’re familiar or unfamiliar with Wendell Berry, hearing his story and convictions towards the slow food movement, environmental justice, healthy local communities, returning war veterans in the age of technology, mindfulness, and the U.S. government’s agricultural influence since World War II helped center our thoughts at the week’s end. Berry reminds us that BIG QUESTIONS do not always have BIG ANSWERS. Humans will only survive if we live the mysteries, and work on a local level to improve and simplify our communities.
Admittedly, one of the most poignant points Berry makes is this:
Q: “As an essayist and cultural critic who has written a fair amount about community, what is your view of newly emerging digital communities? Are they credible forms of community?”
A: “We’re just flooded with language, which means that we’ve got to be careful about language. You can speak of ‘digital communities’ if you want to. All I ask is that you recognize that you’re using a metaphor. A real community is the people and the place and everything else that’s in it.”
…a sobering reminder that reading is half of our responsibility towards stewardship, and more importantly, towards personal wellbeing. Inspiration from blogs, social media, and television is indispensable, but action should be the result.
What will you do today to make the world a better place?