The utterly ordinary makes things come alive | vi. urbanism
#laterblog
Here are two clips from the cult movies Baraka (1992) and Koyaanisqatsi (1982).
Aren't they beautiful?
The everyday and repetitive have a meditative quality to them. There is contentment and acceptance. There is no fear of missing out the extraordinary. If the city is a large breathing organism that exists on timescales larger than our individual lifespans, it is humbling to consider ourselves as tiny cellular parts of the whole. We contribute to something larger than the sum of its parts. And we just need to do our part.
The everyday life has the potential to provide fertile ground for dreams, hopes and revolutions. Alternatively, it also tends to normalize the ordinary. Here I quote Michel de Certeau as he quotes Witold Gombrowicz:
"When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has: "I have had, you see, to resort more and more to very small, almost invisible pleasures, little extras.... You've no idea how great one becomes with these little details, it's incredible how one grows."
I am reminded of Baloo's advice to Mowgli in Disney's version of The Jungle Book:
Here are two clips from the cult movies Baraka (1992) and Koyaanisqatsi (1982).
music: African Journey performed by Anugama
soundtrack: The Grid by Philip Glass
Aren't they beautiful?
The everyday and repetitive have a meditative quality to them. There is contentment and acceptance. There is no fear of missing out the extraordinary. If the city is a large breathing organism that exists on timescales larger than our individual lifespans, it is humbling to consider ourselves as tiny cellular parts of the whole. We contribute to something larger than the sum of its parts. And we just need to do our part.
The everyday life has the potential to provide fertile ground for dreams, hopes and revolutions. Alternatively, it also tends to normalize the ordinary. Here I quote Michel de Certeau as he quotes Witold Gombrowicz:
"When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has: "I have had, you see, to resort more and more to very small, almost invisible pleasures, little extras.... You've no idea how great one becomes with these little details, it's incredible how one grows."
I am reminded of Baloo's advice to Mowgli in Disney's version of The Jungle Book:
And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true
The bare necessities of life will come to you
The bare necessities of life will come to you
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life
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