I was propelled by Keri Smith’s blog post to find out if the Jefferson Lecture was available to watch or listen to and it is! Keri wrote:
I am reminded of the words of my magician friend Ferdinando Buscema in his Three Secrets of Magic, (which you, dear reader, should always remember):
1. Reality is not always what it seems to be.
2. Imagination creates reality.
3. Reality is made up of words.This line of thinking is continued for me by Wendell Berry in his 2012 Jefferson Lecture, (which I am still thinking about every day, I confess that I have a bit of a Wendell Berry obsession of late),
The term “imagination” in what I take to be its truest sense refers to a mental faculty that some people have used and thought about with the utmost seriousness. The sense of the verb “to imagine” contains the full richness of the verb “to see”. To imagine is to see most clearly, familiarly and understandingly with the eyes. But also, to see inwardly with the minds eye. It is to see not passively, but with a force of vision, and even with a visionary force.
This really struck me as what happens when I start a new project: to see it, hopefully fully and then to work towards making it outside of my head and watching to see what happens.
I have to go out and shovel snow for a bit so I hit the pause button just after what is quoted above. I was thinking it would be lovely to have listened to in person, but wouldn’t it be fun to gather up a group of people and watch screenings of this stuff together, and see what happens?
It’s about 77 minutes total, but your tax dollars at work here – so go enjoy and chew on it!
