"To be taught to write or speak – but what is the use of speaking, if you have nothing to say? To be taught to think – nay, what is the use of being able to think, if you have nothing to think of? But to be taught to see is to gain word and thought at once, and both true." John Ruskin
The mission
After more than a year of directionless wandering and restless searching, we thought it was about time this blog sat calmly under a tree for a while, and meditated on its purpose and future direction. When we awoke, our minds were clear. ‘From Despair To Where’ is once again on a mission.
Just as I was getting to my feet, I felt a tap on the shoulder and was delighted to turn around and see Tom Hodgkinson, editor of The Idler magazine. I first bought a copy of his magazine as an idle youth at university, and I have loved it ever since. It has been through a lot of changes in those years, some of which I approved of, others I didn’t, but it remained worth reading through them all. Now, just like this blog, the magazine seems to really have pulled itself together and found its purpose in life. The most recent issue, ‘Smash The System’, not only looks and feels beautiful as an object, but is full of absolutely essential, not to say highly entertaining and amusing, reading. So when Tom asked if I’d like to contribute an essay on anthropology to the next issue, naturally I jumped at the chance.
It was while working on this essay that I realised how much I loved anthropology. Over the past year I had almost completely forgotten about my love affair with the subject, finding inspiration instead in novels and Eastern mysticism, among other things. But the absence only made the heart grow fonder. I therefore resolved to get back into anthropology. Not to pick up where I left off, which would be boring, but to empty my cup and sit down to learn, to strap on a white belt once again, and go stand at the back of the class. I decided to apply for a part-time, distance-learning, first degree in anthropology, or something like it.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, no such course exists, so I determined to teach myself. So that’s what this blog is mostly going to be from now on. It will be the notes and essays I set myself as part of my own self-education in anthropology. Anyone who would like to join me at the back of the class is of course welcome. To begin, I shall be reading and writing notes on one of the books recommended to new undergraduates by the London Anthropology Day website, Small Place, Large Issues: An Introduction To Social And Cultural Anthropology by Thomas Hylland Eriksen.
I guess there will be many thousands of readers out there worried by this change of direction. They will be wondering how on earth they will make it through life without being told about the latest clip of Ween playing live I’ve stumbled across on YouTube, or the profound wisdom I found in the lyrics of Rush and Gong, what novel I currently think is absolutely essential reading for absolutely everyone, and so on. I feel your pain. If you want to continue to hear about my wanderings in culture, you can find me on Facebook, where I still post that kind of rubbish onto the internet, lacking better things to do with my day at work.
Finally, my co-blogger Dave has some projects planned for the blog, but I’ll leave it to him to tell you about them. Which is my way of saying, “Come on Dave, pull your finger out! Just write the bloody thing and post it up!”
Till next time, thanks for listening, thanks for caring.
