Episode 45: Breathless

In this episode, I explore our longing for basic trust, weaving together poetry (Pat Schneider, Rilke), philosophy (the Stoical idea of Logos, Cosmic Indifference, Animism), and psychology (Ego Psychology, Object Relations, and the developmental impact of early relationships) in order to make sense of mistrust and the desire for deeper, authentic connections in our digital and fragmented world.

I suggest that this existential trust, foundational to well-being, is often found in the poetics of objects, putting us on the path to discovering the You we need in our lives.

SEGMENTS:

(00:00) The Art of Online Personas: Decoding the Facade of Dating Profiles

(03:00) Unveiling Basic Trust: Perspectives from A.H. Almaas on Digital Connections

(04:35) Stoic Echoes in the Modern Psyche: Linking Logos to Basic Trust

(05:18) Rational Cosmos, Illusion of Free Will: Stoicism's View on Life's Order

(08:41) Embracing Cosmic Virtue: Stoicism's Guide to Harmonious Living

(9:50) Cosmic Indifference versus Inherent Benevolence: A Philosophical Dilemma

(10:41) Science and the Search for Universal Goodness: The Stoic Conundrum Faced With Camus' Absurd

(12:46) The Formation of Self: Insights from Ego Psychology and Early Experiences

(13:24) Decoding Personality: The Role of The Enneagram and MBTI in Ego Development

(19:09) Assessing Basic Trust: A Basic Trust Assessment

(21:58) Animism: Rebuilding Trust through a Connected Worldview?

(25:20) Ordinary Things, Extraordinary Patience: Finding Connection in Animism?

The Patience of Ordinary Things

It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

-Pat Schneider

The Inner Rose

Where is there for this inner
an outer? Upon which hurt
does one lay such fine linen?
And which heavens are reflected within them,
upon the interior seas
of these open roses, these carefree ones, see:
how loose in looseness
they lie, as if a trembling hand
could never tip them over.
They can hardly hold themselves
erect; many allow themselves
be filled all too full and flow
over from inner space
into the days, which, ever
more and more full, close in upon themselves,
until the entire summer becomes
a chamber, a chamber in a dream.

-Rainer-Maria Rilke (tr. Mitchell)

Resources and Reference:

-⁠Facets of Unity⁠ (A.H. Aalmas)

-In Our Time: Marcus Aurelius (Radio 4)

-The Handbook of Contemporary Animism (edited by Graham Harvey)

-Graham Harvey’s Animist Manifesto

-Michal Zerkowski's article about Irving Hallowell's research on the Ojibwe animism

-The Perception of The Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling, and Skill (Tim Ingold)

Music:

-⁠Breathless⁠ (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)

-⁠Chips & Dip⁠ (Sam Greenfield)

-⁠With You ⁠(Teenage Fanclub)

-⁠Nocturnes & Meditations ⁠(Matt Tondut) ⁠-Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Variation 1 (Arr. for Harp)⁠ - Parker Ramsay

⁠-When Everything Fades⁠ (Matt Tondut)