This pastiche poem is a tribute to the Past and a call for the Possible.
Krista Tippett created On Being twenty-five years ago. This podcast has become a favorite among listeners all around the globe. It started out as a tiny local radio program. For her efforts, President Barack Obama awarded the National Humanities Medal. As she shared her universe with us, millions gave her their hearts.
It’s a historic moment On BeingIts transformation into its next form and Krista’s life as a human being going through all stages of human development.
For the occasion, and in honor of it, I searched through the On Beingarchive, to make a pastiche of twenty lines using episodes titles from the past 20 years.
This is it, and each line links to the episode from which it was taken:
There are TWENTY reasons to be happy
Take note of the rage
notice the silence —
Silence and presence
of everything:Small truths
and other surprises
What we cultivate
How we deal with loss
saved by the beauty of the worldLooking for language
large enough
A life worth livingwhen no question
seems big enough:what if we get this right?
this tiny slice of eternity —
mathematics, mystery,
and the universe —This amazing argument is
of being alive.
Donating = Loving
Over the past decade, I spent hundreds of hours and thousands each month writing. MarginalianThe magazine, which bore for fifteen years the unsettling name Brain Pickings. Thanks to the support of readers, it has been free from ads and still exists. I have no staff, no interns, no assistant — a thoroughly one-woman labor of love that is also my life and my livelihood. Donations are a great way to make your life better. Every dollar counts.
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