‘Opening to Darkness’ by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. What to make of this political and ecological moment, this chaos that arrives with no instructions? We can “see, collectively, in the dark.”

‘On Not Knowing‘ by Emily Ogden. What is there to hope for? Should we hope? We can work in the field, making bales of hay, but the work of the soul “never will be cut and dried.”

Our ways of knowing can be corrupted. “We’re going to have to rethink our metaphors,” Proctor said, on persuading people away from science-denial. “We’ve got to think much more creatively.”

That truth remains valuable. We existed. We went to school and forgot ourselves for a while. Then we remembered who we are. We had this knowledge with us the whole time.

Even if art inspires imitation. The artwork looks real and inspires people to try to interact with it and eventually to reproduce the image or otherwise imitate the idea in their lives.

‘Why Fish Don’t Exist’ is a book that intrigues me. When the category no longer has adequate explanatory value, the category must be discarded or deemphasized, and happiness must be found somewhere else.