this too
Friday, August 26, 2005
  Naming
"Naming the intolerable is itself the hope".

Wonderful John Berger again.
 
Comments:
Jean, have you named that space just in front of you where your belly used to be? :)
 
Jean,
I'm not sure I understand this. I admit I'm pretty dense today too, but would you mind saying more about what it said to you?
 
I'm giggling...is gemma grace suggesting that the now-empty space where Jean's belly used to be is "the intolerable"? :-)

In all seriousness, what a great quote. Recognizing the problem is the first step toward any solution.
 
Naming gives the antagonist a shape and form, lets you see him and so engage with him.

My paraphrase, with it's language drawn from combat, perhaps isn't very buddhist, but is that essentially it?

I sometimes wonder though in my own struggles whether I delude myself; whether the real antagonist isn't just using the name as a disguise.
 
Susan, this is from a piece about imprisoned Turkish trade unionists in the 1980s which argues that protest is never futile, even in conditions of greatest repression -saying 'look at this, this isn't right' is the beginning of changing it, even if it's terribly hard and takes a long time.

Gemma, since I've never found my belly - present or absent - intolerable, I guess I don't need to name it. I'm still patting it and asking it 'what is this?' though.

Lorianne, it is a great quote, isn't it?

Andy, you have a point there I think - we do need to have the right name.
 
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