Mar 11·edited Mar 11Liked by Sari Botton, David W. Berner
Hello David,
I love this. I love the voice of you in your writing. I love how connected you are with yourself.. Because you are connected with yourself in your words on the paper I feel connected with you. And that helps me to feel less alone on a morning when I woke up feeling lonely. I love how you distinguish between loneliness and aloneness. And that's exactly what it is. Loneliness is the absence of connection or intimacy.
" Into-me-you- see." Different from aloneness which can be such a gift.
The gift of solitude especially when connected to the natural world which connects me to my soul.
I love you waking up looking out at the first light from your warm bed and the pillow. I love the birthday morning kiss Special D from your wife, though I found myself wishing she'd put more effort into planning your birthday dinner instead of leaving it for you to decide.
I love that you have kids who "love you like crazy" which tells me how beautifully you have loved them.
I loved the train and the café and the coffee and the brown toast and your favorite nook where you parked yourself by the window. I could hear the kitchen noises and the dishes and I could smell the coffee.
I loved hearing about the Chihuahuan desert in New Mexico and the Angels who brought you to such a beautiful place it made you cry.
I love that you have a casita. You are a beautiful soul. Happy Birthday!
I celebrate and I sing you. Thank you for speaking in your own true voice., The kind of writing I love to read because every word is alive with the soul of that person.
And now I am going to make brown toast, and think about how much I love authentic voices and how I need to carve out space to do more writing. Your casita sounds magical. I love and miss the California desert.
Peace be with you Brother! Thank you so much. ✨🙏🌅🏜🌵🌈🕊
Such a nice piece, David. This year, for the first time, I chose to spend my birthday alone, in nature (the woods around our house). It was lovely. Lots of solitude, no loneliness.
Beautiful excerpt; I look forward to reading the book. Loved the distinction between aloneness and loneliness. Also, in full agreement with Picasso on solitude and serious work. In this digital age we’re encouraged to negate its importance, but I submit many “content creators” would benefit from a good dose of solitude. ;)
Mar 11·edited Mar 11Liked by Sari Botton, David W. Berner
An incredible piece of writing, David; touching on many levels!
It has been many years, but I once visited Madrid (as I understand, pronounced "MAD-rid, not "muh-DRID"), and also Cerrillos, along the Turquoise Trail and found Madrid a charming place full of the essence of New Mexico.
This writing made me want to go there again and experience the southwest's beauty. Arizona has it as well, but NM has something...different.
Having just turned 60 in December, I am daily challenged by my body changing, my life changing, and of the fleeting passage of ever-passing limited time.
Thank you, David, for stirring up some lost memories, and inspiring me to find and make more with my life.
Beautiful portrait of the artist, snapshot of the day and reflection on time, relationships and being lonely versus being alone. A vast difference. But how to tell by looking?
What a fun surprise in Oldster today--guest writer, David Berner. You did a great job of presenting your book and I preordered. It's something to look forward to in August, which is saying a lot. I'm with George Burns who said this about aging: "I don't buy bananas that take more than three days to ripen." What a great line--With aloneness, I am in the presence of myself. It has taken a lifetime to inventory my gifts so I know what I can offer to others.
What a great way to begin the day, being invited to join you on this brief introspective journey. I love the way you follow your moods (watching them change along the way) and especially, how you marry what's happening internally, with weather descriptions. (The Buddhists by the way, would agree that everything is changing all the time, just like the cloud cover!)
I've been hesitant to write like this myself because those mean voices in my head start bellowing that no one cares about the trite minutiae of my life - but as it happens, readers DO care, don't they? I certainly do! Something about this extract also reminds me of everything I like about Patti Smith's writing: her random observations and thoughts, her anxieties and entire sentences devoted to whole wheat toast with olive oil in various cafés, what the people around her are wearing etc. I adored every bit of your piece too and clearly, from the comments here, I am not alone.
Thank you so much for this - and for the unintended nudge that perhaps I too can write about toast and much more.
This is beautiful. I also find deep inspiration in the desert (and am heading to New Mexico next week), and treasure my times of “aloneness.” A birthday spent with warm wishes from those we love and a stretch of creative time sounds perfect!
Hello David,
I love this. I love the voice of you in your writing. I love how connected you are with yourself.. Because you are connected with yourself in your words on the paper I feel connected with you. And that helps me to feel less alone on a morning when I woke up feeling lonely. I love how you distinguish between loneliness and aloneness. And that's exactly what it is. Loneliness is the absence of connection or intimacy.
" Into-me-you- see." Different from aloneness which can be such a gift.
The gift of solitude especially when connected to the natural world which connects me to my soul.
I love you waking up looking out at the first light from your warm bed and the pillow. I love the birthday morning kiss Special D from your wife, though I found myself wishing she'd put more effort into planning your birthday dinner instead of leaving it for you to decide.
I love that you have kids who "love you like crazy" which tells me how beautifully you have loved them.
I loved the train and the café and the coffee and the brown toast and your favorite nook where you parked yourself by the window. I could hear the kitchen noises and the dishes and I could smell the coffee.
I loved hearing about the Chihuahuan desert in New Mexico and the Angels who brought you to such a beautiful place it made you cry.
I love that you have a casita. You are a beautiful soul. Happy Birthday!
I celebrate and I sing you. Thank you for speaking in your own true voice., The kind of writing I love to read because every word is alive with the soul of that person.
And now I am going to make brown toast, and think about how much I love authentic voices and how I need to carve out space to do more writing. Your casita sounds magical. I love and miss the California desert.
Peace be with you Brother! Thank you so much. ✨🙏🌅🏜🌵🌈🕊
Beautiful David! And hello from a
New Mexican who resides just south of Santa Fe. 😊 In your excerpt you reference the Tortoise Trail and am wondering if you meant Turquoise Trail.
Such a nice piece, David. This year, for the first time, I chose to spend my birthday alone, in nature (the woods around our house). It was lovely. Lots of solitude, no loneliness.
Beautiful excerpt; I look forward to reading the book. Loved the distinction between aloneness and loneliness. Also, in full agreement with Picasso on solitude and serious work. In this digital age we’re encouraged to negate its importance, but I submit many “content creators” would benefit from a good dose of solitude. ;)
What a beautiful meditation on aging and solitude to begin my Monday morning. Thank you.
An incredible piece of writing, David; touching on many levels!
It has been many years, but I once visited Madrid (as I understand, pronounced "MAD-rid, not "muh-DRID"), and also Cerrillos, along the Turquoise Trail and found Madrid a charming place full of the essence of New Mexico.
This writing made me want to go there again and experience the southwest's beauty. Arizona has it as well, but NM has something...different.
Having just turned 60 in December, I am daily challenged by my body changing, my life changing, and of the fleeting passage of ever-passing limited time.
Thank you, David, for stirring up some lost memories, and inspiring me to find and make more with my life.
Thank you for this. I marvel at how lucky I am to be called older.
Beautiful portrait of the artist, snapshot of the day and reflection on time, relationships and being lonely versus being alone. A vast difference. But how to tell by looking?
What a fun surprise in Oldster today--guest writer, David Berner. You did a great job of presenting your book and I preordered. It's something to look forward to in August, which is saying a lot. I'm with George Burns who said this about aging: "I don't buy bananas that take more than three days to ripen." What a great line--With aloneness, I am in the presence of myself. It has taken a lifetime to inventory my gifts so I know what I can offer to others.
What a great way to begin the day, being invited to join you on this brief introspective journey. I love the way you follow your moods (watching them change along the way) and especially, how you marry what's happening internally, with weather descriptions. (The Buddhists by the way, would agree that everything is changing all the time, just like the cloud cover!)
I've been hesitant to write like this myself because those mean voices in my head start bellowing that no one cares about the trite minutiae of my life - but as it happens, readers DO care, don't they? I certainly do! Something about this extract also reminds me of everything I like about Patti Smith's writing: her random observations and thoughts, her anxieties and entire sentences devoted to whole wheat toast with olive oil in various cafés, what the people around her are wearing etc. I adored every bit of your piece too and clearly, from the comments here, I am not alone.
Thank you so much for this - and for the unintended nudge that perhaps I too can write about toast and much more.
Simply beautiful. Thank you.
An exceptionally written piece. Thanks, David.
Beautifully written. Thank you
A beautiful reflection. As I approach 60, I share many of these same thoughts and emotions about "being alone."
This is beautiful. I also find deep inspiration in the desert (and am heading to New Mexico next week), and treasure my times of “aloneness.” A birthday spent with warm wishes from those we love and a stretch of creative time sounds perfect!
A wonderful perspective on being alone - especially during this time period when so many are in a crowd but lonely