The Herd Keeper

And this is the third (and final) Substack for today. I’ll try to spread them out more in future!!

I’m here in the wood, and I want to read you a couple of verses from the second section of the Herd Keeper by Fernando Pessoa.

I believe in the world, like a marigold,

Because I see it. But I don’t think about it

Because to think is to misunderstand…

The world was not made for us to think about it

(To think is to be sick in the eyes)

But for us to look at it and be in agreement….

I don’t have a philosophy. I have senses….

-

If I speak of Nature it is not because I know what she is,

But because I love her, and I love her for this,

Because those who love never know what they love

Neither why they love, or what it is to love…

Love is eternal innocence

And the only innocence is not to think…

***

I’m finding this to be an extraordinary book. It was given to me by my friend Manuel for my birthday, and he read a piece at my birthday celebration, and that was rather lovely, though it’s a bit too long to record here*.

Those two verses I’ve just read go along so well with my journey, which is about sinking away from trying to understand everything and into a place of what he calls the innocence of not thinking, rather of sensing. This being with is essentially from the heart, and he refers there, doesn’t he, to love.

I’ve been pondering a bit on the word sense. How often do you find yourself saying to somebody or somebody says: Does that make sense? This is making sense in a thinking way, thinking about something, seeking to understand something. And then there are the senses, our physical senses, which are not about thinking. They are, by definition, about seeing and touching and tasting and hearing. And the other one, which I’ve just forgotten! But they’re all so important, and they’re not about thinking, they’re about sensing.

I’ve also learned something from the whole mindfulness approach. Before mindfulness I never referred to body things other than as feelings. How does your body feel? Oh a bit achy. Now I always use the word sensations when it comes to my body. What are the sensations in my body? Rather than the feelings, that are emotions. And they’re often connected. There’s often a sensation in the body that goes with the emotion. So, for example, butterflies in the tummy is the sensation that will very often go with fear or anxiety in the emotions.

And that’s a really beautiful thing for me to now be able to separate those two, and yet connect them back again. And it’s that sinking into the body bit, sinking into the heart bit. Letting go as much as possible from thinking and thinking and trying to work it all out.

That’s my journey now, and I hope that’s useful for you this morning. Take care.

*If you’d like to hear Manuel read section 8 from the Herd Keeper I’ve posted it here. Be warned that if you are religious, and specifically Christian, you will be discomforted by some of the language.