Tag: ethics

by jad

Virtue

You know when people are so close to getting it but just can’t seem to get there? How they’ll assert a thing like it’s a side of fries that can sit pretty by their narrow notion burger? I used to have a teacher who would berate us for not absorbing our lessons fully by pompously declaring “you must eat the stones,” which would irritate us to no end, and yet, somehow makes more sense to me now. By what social metabolism can you digest a lesson for others? You cannot. Your advocacy will break them out in hives. Their anti-bodies … Continue reading “Virtue” →

by jad

Humility

humility humility humilityhumility humility humilityhumility humility humility (an entry from Yves Klein’s diary) I thought you might like to see more from my “60 megapixel” bargain bin buy off of AliExpress. Every once in a while, it does something right. Still mostly misses though. I’m realizing that I’ve really outgrown the drive towards correctness at all times; I find myself less and less interested in thinkers and movements that figured it out, and more and more curious about failures and fuck ups who didn’t. Or, more accurately, people who don’t think they know it all but might be on to … Continue reading “Humility” →

by jad

Hold The Tension

“Remember that a dialogue presupposes two sides. All too often comrades lecture people, not letting them get a word in edgewise. We must learn how to listen [emphasis in original] to people. Ask questions and get a sense of their political thinking.” We must learn how to listen. On one hand, it’s extraordinary that this needs to be said; on the other, thank God that and when it’s made explicit. All politics is learnt. All politics is also unlearnt. We are constantly relearning the give and take between the two. I’ve been engaging with a couple of points of political … Continue reading “Hold The Tension” →

by jad

Thereness & Hereness

Yesterday, I used the word “thereness” to express how I look at the world photographically, but that’s a retrospective notion – in the moment of decision, the feeling is best captured by “hereness” – here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, so help me God. I’ve noticed this before, whenever I’ve walked through familiar places with a camera in hand; somehow, the world makes itself manifest in a different light that way. But a photo walk with others doing the same adds yet another dimension: the rhythm becomes corporate, a pooling of a liturgy of attention that’s more than idiosyncratic. … Continue reading “Thereness & Hereness” →

by jad

Holy Week: 20 Weeks of Gratitude, Week 15

Part 1: Stations I-III This week is Holy Week. I briefly considered writing about something else—I’ve been thinking about time and how I mark it and what that means for the moments of your day that you share with me reading these—but after seeing @neighborhoodliturgy’s “Stations of the Cross” through South Lake Union, I knew that writing about anything else would be inauthentic to the actual arc of my gratitude, right here, right now. I don’t think the Stations are a thing back home like they are in the West—for me, the Way of Sorrows, a procession commemorating Jesus’ death … Continue reading “Holy Week: 20 Weeks of Gratitude, Week 15” →

by jad

Essential Service: 20 Weeks of Gratitude, Week 12

Part 1: St. Peter’s It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the world and a strange time to be so invested in the Church. I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy to articulate what I’ve seen and heard and learned and come up against on this side of our global situation. I’m emotionally & spiritually drained. That’s why, this week, I want to articulate my gratitude for the faithful communities now thrown into self-isolation. St. Peter’s is a minimalist building tucked away in a residential street on the edge of the International and Central districts of Seattle. It’s … Continue reading “Essential Service: 20 Weeks of Gratitude, Week 12” →

by jad

‘Ethics of Coffee’ Event, July 25

Coffee is the quintessential “thing” that even dictionaries will reach for when thinking of a definition of “commodity.” From farming, to sourcing, to trading, to roasting—coffee makes the very idea of a supply-chain more concrete for the discerning consumer. It’s also just damn delicious ☕️ That’s why I’m excited to be co-organizing ‘Ethics of Coffee,’ a @ypinseattle event at @lamarzocco.usa in Ballard, on July 25. We’ll taste yummy roasts in an intimate setting while delving into the ethics of coffee production, from bean to barista. Featuring: @atlas_coffee, @boonboonacoffee, @olympiacoffee, @ondaorigins, @seattlecoffeeworks, @zokacoffee and @coffeeatlarge, who will help us think about … Continue reading “‘Ethics of Coffee’ Event, July 25” →

by jad

Share More, Enjoy With, Connect To, Spiral Out

“.. beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life, if we are to live as nature meant us to; that is, unless we are content to be less than [human].” (William Morris, 1880) The other day, I heard a very strange statement. It was not quite an argument, but more of a fascinated nod at a controversial stand; a hermeneutic proposed to account for what it would really, really … Continue reading “Share More, Enjoy With, Connect To, Spiral Out” →