I studied biblical Hebrew for some years before my teacher passed away; it is fascinating and very illuminating.
Each letter has a common meaning and then a Kabbalistic meaning which adds poignancy and significance to its appearance in certain words.
The Hebrew letter Resh, depicted in the image above, denotes the quality of “Seeing to Understand”, that is to say, not just looking or seeing, but doing so in an open and sincerely curious stance, in order to perceive, to truly Understand what is being observed.
It is in this stance that I am writing this.
I have much to get out, and substack seems to be a good platform for that, but I also don’t want to overwhelm readers.
I want my work shared and appreciated because I believe it is necessary and valuable. That said, there is no use unleashing a firehose into even a waiting cup, and I would like to find a balance that suits everyone involved.
First of all, if you download the substack app, there is a listening feature which can turn your favourite articles into a podcast effectively. The reading is not perfect but it’s pretty good and I listen to articles this way.
Secondly the metadata on each post indicates what length in minutes of a read or a listen each article is.
For my part, I am trying to arrange my work to be a bit more digestible, I will be creating a welcome-wagon article to frame my work, introduce myself and suggest key articles for anyone who wants to orientate themselves to my wiring and my thinking. Additionally I am creating additional substack publications like Hermetica Reiterated, to focus writing of specific focus on one place, so I can order the work out in a more logical arrangement.
Your feedback is what is missing and I dearly would not like this to become overwhelming or a one-way street.
As David Whyte keeps reminding us: Life is a Conversation.
The way my own thinking was challenged was that people spend hours online looking at trash on social media, and they would much rather be edutained by reading subject matter they relate to. If we are going to be online scrolling anyway, it might as well be something we take value from and appreciate.
What helped me appreciate longer articles is realising there was no obligation to finish it in one sitting. If something was good, I would bookmark it and go back to it. A close friend reminded me that Social Media and streaming services have conditioned us that we should get fed what to see and watch and read. We did not always think this way. The irony is, we are always looking for podcasts and audiobooks to digest and longer articles, especially ones we can listen to on the app, are just the middle ground.
Until next time,
Rocco
If there is something that I need to hear for which the poll feature cannot capture, comment directly below the post, or email me: info@eyeswideopenlife.org