Kevin Kelly on Anne Herbert:
Anne Herbert was a gifted writer who edited CoEvolution Quarterly (the periodic magazine of the Whole Earth Catalog) before I did in the early 1980s. We never worked together, or were close friends, but I really dug her writing. It was telegraphic, lyrical, abbreviated, evocative, extremely personal and mystical. She wrote in short bursts. Like proverbs from a secret bible. Brian Eno noticed her stuff works really well on t-shirts. It was not like any writing I had encountered. (She came up with the phrase “practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” which later became a meme.) Readers loved her; but publishers did not get her.
He points to her four-year old blog, making it clear why he’s a fan of her writing and marks her the “epitome blog/twitter writer.” Following his lead, here are some of her posts that struck me; you should explore them as well:
Things are happening. Afootness is afoot. via
In this circumstance, I need to do the important work of doing nothing. via
The hidden gems of a city are not places passersby can see if they follow directions from the knowledgable, but lives steadily lived. via
Sometimes it is more important to keep moving than it is to do whatever it is well. via
If you pause at varying intervals a lot, it makes the pattern less discernible. via
It’s not a matter of thinking; it’s a matter of listening. via
Sometimes, when it’s time to behold, you can barely stay awake. via
Let’s go back to “I don’t know.” The “I don’t know” plan, notable for its accuracy. via
On the way to already being there. via
In my mind, I took away the “no” on the sign and got a better poem: “Stopping anytime.” via
Proverbs indeed.
