December 2024

A Letter from Kim Manley Ort

On the Road, I-80 in the U.S.A.

Hello and welcome to December.

It’s been another wild and crazy year. Since I last wrote, I’ve driven coast to coast across the U.S., and what a beautiful and diverse country it is with beautiful and diverse people. In between there was an election and I’m feeling a little off-center, uncertain about what’s on the horizon or how it relates to seeing clearly and my own work. I will continue to do the work I feel called to do and I hope that we’re all working to make the world a better place for our communities.

I’ve now folded this letter, an overview on what I’m working on and thinking about, under the umbrella of my Seeing Clearly newsletter. You’ll receive this letter at the beginning of every month and a separate Seeing Clearly post on a particular topic will arrive mid-month. If you’ve not read a Seeing Clearly post before, you can always check out the archives. And, you can manage your subscription through settings if you only want to receive one or the other, but they do go hand in hand.

It’s been three years since I started the Seeing Clearly newsletter and I’ve been reflecting on what seeing clearly means to me now. What I do know is that we all have a particular point of view that has been formed over the course of our lives that is based on the environment we grew up in, the temperament we were born with, and the experiences we’ve had along the way. This point of view is constantly changing (or should be) based on new inputs. I know that I am literally changed daily as I navigate life, whether by profound experiences - a piece of theatre or a mountaintop view or a good book - or a crisis. And, I’m also changed in smaller ways by ordinary everyday encounters.

While we’ll never see everything entirely clearly, I think it’s important to acknowledge that our point of view is always limited and doesn’t define reality. And, we can practice expanding our point of view by listening to others and opening ourselves to new ideas or places.

In my last Seeing Clearly post, I talked about improvisation and shared some quotes from a book by Stephen Nachmanovitch, called The Art of Is. One of my favourite improvisers is the multi-talented musician Jon Batiste. If you get a chance, watch the documentary about Batiste and his wife, Suleika Jaouad (author of Between Two Kingdoms), called An American Symphony on Netflix. In a recent interview with Tim Ferris on YouTube, Batiste said that he thinks everyone has an handful of ideas or themes that they’re constantly exploring throughout life.

“This is the thing that I’ve been thinking about for years, this idea that as people, whether creative or not, we only have two, maybe three ideas in life that we are constantly refining, recreating, presenting. And it’s your life’s idea set. I’m reaching a point where that’s something that I’m willing to live by. How do I go as deep as I can within a handful of things that are for me and leave the rest?”

How would you describe your idea set? For me, they come in the form of questions that I’m constantly exploring. What does it mean to see clearly? What is quality and how do I incorporate that into my relationships? How can I live in alignment with the natural world?

Since June, I’ve been paying attention to what I pay attention to, in order to better see my common themes and patterns and where my efforts should be directed. It takes close attention to these threads to know what your idea set is and then be able to give yourself over to them. I’ll be continuing this practice of following my attention into the new year and will let that determine what I need to write about.

What else is inspiring me lately?

I find that every time I read a book, listen to a podcast, have a good conversation, or take a walk, my world is expanded a little bit more. They help me to see more clearly. Here are a few things that have expanded my heart and mind lately.

• Books

For a good escape into fiction, I really enjoyed The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. Now, I’m reading We are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons on Love and Disobedience by Lindsey Stonebridge. I’ll be sharing my favorite books of the year in my next newsletter.

** Note: Books mentioned have Amazon or Bookshop affiliate links, meaning I make a few cents if you purchase through my link. I only recommend books that I’ve read.

• Podcasts

Scene on Radio, Season 8, on capitalism was so interesting. It delves into the history of capitalism, its strengths and weaknesses, and how it might be shaped moving forward.

The Road to Joni. Carmel Holt tells the incredible story of Joni Mitchell’s comeback from a stroke to performing at the Hollywood Bowl this past October (at the age of 80),through the many musicians who have been touched by her along the way. I also learned about the photographer Norman Seeff, who has created some of the most iconic photographs of musicians and other celebrities.

• Articles

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass, was a phenomenon. I’ve read it several times. She’s coming out with a new book on reciprocity called The Serviceberry, which I’m looking forward to reading. In this article, Gift Thinking, from Orion Magazine, Jenny Odell interviews Kimmerer on the concepts behind her book.

Thanks for reading and subscribing. What’s been inspiring you lately? What are you obsessed with? I’d love to know.

On-Demand Workshops. As a reminder, all of my previous photography workshops are now available on-demand as downloadable PDF’s through Gumroad. You can peruse them here.