I appreciate the public transport system, bus journeys, train rides, walks to the station, it is a time off from the world, by being in the world. A gap in the day to perch on the fence and people-watch, like a silent observer looking at everyone and everything, without even realizing that introspection is going on. A time of inner silence, immersed in a noisy world, just watching, and listening, and listening and watching.
While surfing around, I found this brilliant article, which I thoroughly enjoyed, by Howard Becker. It is beautifully written, there’s a poetic charm to it, and it captures the essence of Sociology.
http://home.earthlink.net/~hsbecker/articles/observe.html
“We saw things close up as well as from a distance.”
“This gave us a lot of material on differing ways of life to think about.”
“It wasn't undertaken because I was a sociologist and had a reason to be there observing.”
It makes me feel that passion is so powerful and so attractive, more attractive than being attractive.
Work-in-Progress
[Hunting for a good quote]
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
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2 comments:
walks to the station--i totally agree..best time in the world, quiet..peaceful..alone..empty HDB void decks, carless carparks, that green field, frogs at night, in the world, away from it
yeah, i enjoy all these walks a great deal. and i'm so glad we're not taking em for granted; )
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