Time Off
by Jason GodeskyGiuli asked me tonight if I’ll ever write another article for Anthropik again. The truthful answer to that is, probably. I can hardly stay away for too terribly long. Too many things about the state of the world frustrate me for me to not write about them. But at the moment, this site offers me much more aggrevation than it provides me in outlet, and with so much in my life in flux at the moment, it’s difficult to justify the expenditure of time, and more importantly, grief, that regular writing would entail.
I’m certainly not being idle, though; my attention’s going to corners that need it sorely, like the Fifth World, which is seeing a lot of effort behind the scenes right now (as some of you I’ve been working with are aware). And I’ll probably be coming back here regularly, once things have settled down a bit and I’ve had some time to gather the energy it takes. I’ve been wearing myself down for years now, sometimes faster than others, but never really fully recovering before diving in again. It’s resulted in a slow, steady erosion to my current state. So it may take some time to give myself the chance to really recover. You may even see the Fifth World v. 0.3 go public before you see regular posting here again from me.
Of course, that’s no reason for Giuli to be idle, too, so I hope you’ll all join me in chiding her to start writing some more for the Fabulous Forager in the meantime!
Yeah, get writing, then, Giuli!
There are safe places to have conversations, I hope you’ll join us, if even as an alias! You are missed, Jason!
Tony Z
Comment by Tony — 22 October 2007 @ 10:10 PM
For the record, I will certainly miss the regular postings on anthropik.com, but I can completely understand the desire to wash ones’ hands of dealing with trolls in the comments.
Comment by dagnabit — 23 October 2007 @ 3:22 AM
dagnabit:
Yeah, it’s really quite sad that primitivism has become such a douchebag-magnet.
Comment by venuspluto67 — 23 October 2007 @ 10:37 AM
Civilization really does has a talent for making us burn our proverbial candles at both ends, doesn’t it?
The North American subset of civilization has become so spoiled and narcissistic that it gets more and more difficult to give a rip about it, I find.
Comment by venuspluto67 — 23 October 2007 @ 11:08 AM
Time off from writing, can just be an opportunity to do other things–so have at it!
I’m think 2008 is going to be ‘the year of fear’ as the realities of the world smack even some of the Paris Hilton watchers into a less comfortable apathy.
Hope your doing well Jason, long live the PA free thinkers!
Comment by Bubba — 23 October 2007 @ 11:53 AM
hey–take care of yourself! both of your selves!
: )
-p.
Comment by patricia — 23 October 2007 @ 2:06 PM
I’m glad that you’re taking care of yourself. Personally, I can’t wait to see the “new” Fifth World, so I don’t mind the lull in regular posting, if it means good progress is being made there.
I’m also curious as to what’s happening with the “book” version of the thirty? How’s it going?
Come back to join us on Rewild when you get the chance. We’ll keep it mellow.
-Jordan
Comment by Jordan Mechano — 23 October 2007 @ 2:44 PM
You deserve a break from writing Jason, I deserve a chance to bloody catch up! Finally finished reading/processing all of The Savages are Truly Noble today. Only missed a few other articles after that so I’m nearly there.
Take care and conserve that valuable energy.
Comment by Dan Bartlett — 23 October 2007 @ 6:18 PM
In the event of a loss of cabin pressure please secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others…..
As much as I enjoy your stimulating writing I had always wondered what cost it came at. I can keep it up a bit because of my cruisy part time job. But most of my week is spent on the blunt end of a hoe or fork making more meaningful preparations. Is all of this reference slinging worth anything in the long run? Why exactly do we feel the need to compell anyone to believe anything? Maybe because it is easier than self examination……
So anyway…the last thing you should feel bad about is a lack of blogging.
Comment by Void_genesis — 23 October 2007 @ 9:33 PM
I’m just glad to see I’m not the only one taking a chill pill as of late.
Take care of yourself, Jason. No one else will do it for you. Well… maybe Giuli, if you ask real nice.
I look forward to seeing the fruit of your 5th World labors. The animist character concepts sound really mind-blowing.
Ditto.
Comment by Rix — 24 October 2007 @ 10:38 AM
Go hiking. Figure out how to eat acorns. Sleep in a snow cave. Freeze your feet in a stream. Hang out with dogs. Then you’ll remember what is good about the world, and you might be able to see through the BS when you come back, at least for a while.
I’ve only made it through the fourth or fifth Thesis so far, but I’m enjoying it. I look forward to an intelligent exchange of ideas. This blog is a pretty special place, don’t forget that.
Comment by Too Human — 24 October 2007 @ 11:33 AM
Thanks, all.
And not to worry, I’ve never cut into my rewilding time to keep up this blog. I’ve cut into my personal time, my sleeping time, even my physical well-being time, but never my rewilding time. Actually, this has been a great year for rewilding. I have a bow drill and a bow & arrows, I’ve started learning bird songs, I have a cabinet full of herbal medicines … it’s really been a great year all around.
And don’t worry, this isn’t just the cause of a few obnoxious trolls. This is the end result of several years of slow erosion and me not taking the time for myself that I needed.
Too Human, I’m especially sad I couldn’t jump into that other thread you were in. You’re asking all the right questions, and it’s just a shame nobody in there really put it in the proper terms. Humans are just like every other animal. The “overkill” theory is overblown, but it is probably true that humans probably had something to do with the extinction of, say, the mammoth (harder to blame us for many of the other species that went extinct then, however, like the saber-toothed tiger, or the giant sloth). But it’s not because we’re so innately destructive, it’s because we were an invasive species. But our culture allows us to become native much more quickly than we might by simple natural selection, which is what the Native Americans did. And civilization is simply a case of overshoot, a phenomenon hardly peculiar in any ecology. I’m sorry I don’t really have the time to answer everything in that thread, but I would like to stress that I think all the questions you raise make a lot more sense when you understand human societies in simple ecological terms like invasive species, becoming a native species, or overshoot.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 24 October 2007 @ 4:24 PM
Hey there, Jason, thanks for the feedback. No worries about the low participation in that other thread, I’m just getting going here. I see your points, and I think along those lines. ‘Invasive species’ is a good way to think about it. I’ll be reading your thesis posts, I’m up to #8 now. Good stuff. It will take me a while, but I intend to put my thoughts together with reasonable care into a unified response. The questions of sustainability–whether or not it matters in the long run of geo-solar lifetime–interest me greatly, as does the notion of carrying capacity, and its tradeoff with lifestyle. I prefer to think of it in terms of ‘balance’ than in terms of ’sustainability’. If we all live in balance, our species will enjoy greater sustainability (I know this is somewhat out of step with your concept of absolute sustainability, but that is one area where I would enjoy an exchange of ideas based on initial differences).
In many ways this is an exciting time to be alive, because there will be significant changes taking place. It’s important to keep in mind the differences between our collective, rational selves, and our personal, emotional selves. Every day my personal, emotional self wants to say to hell with the world, and every human in it; but my collective, rational self keeps me painfully engaged. Having a mother and a wife, and other significant relationships (fewer than 150 in number of course) keeps me more in balance.
I think I’ll go home and urinate in my compost pile now.
Take care. Come back to us.
Comment by Too Human — 24 October 2007 @ 5:47 PM
Hey Jason, you’ve already put up one of the greatest and most engaging sites in the English language, and that assessment has to stand regardless of your conclusions … what I mean is, anyone with an ounce of intellectual honesty has to recognize the worth of what you’ve done here, even if they don’t actually agree with it. (I do agree with most of it, as it happens). There is an incredible amount of stuff here to digest and to think about.
So, above and beyond the call of duty and all that. _Of course_ it’s time for you to think ‘Screw it.’
There are better things in life than blogging. But you knew that already.
Thanks for the incredible work, and take it easy.
Comment by Eric — 26 October 2007 @ 10:16 AM
I wish there was an “Overstatement of the Year” award I could nominate that for, but thank you for the sentiment, nonetheless.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 26 October 2007 @ 11:34 PM
Hi Jason,
I’m a long-term lurker at Anthropik and have read pretty much all the posts you have put up on your site in the past couple of years.
I just wanted to echo Eric’s comments and agree that this is one of the most interesting and best written blogs on the internet, and that your writings have probably done more than any other to open my eyes to a life beyond civilisation.
I hope that you come back to writing fresh and fully-recovered, and good luck with the re-wilding. As for me, I’m way behind you it seems, still working on a bow drill!
All the best,
Sean
Comment by Sean — 28 October 2007 @ 6:31 PM
As a very occasional poster and frequent reader, I’d also like to echo Sean’s comment. Your site made an enormous contribution to giving me an entirely different perspective or model for understanding human history. Which is quite an achievement. It’s also beautifully written. Thanks.
piers
Comment by PIers — 2 November 2007 @ 11:02 AM