THIS IS THE LIFE
{Simply by|By simply} Annie Dillard from the Fall issue of {Picture|Graphic|Photo}: A Journal of home repair and Religion, {released|posted|printed} by the Center for Religious Humanism at {Detroit|Dallaz} Pacific University. Dillard's most recent book {is perfect for|is made for|is good for} the Time Being.
Any culture {informs you|lets you know|notifys you} how to live your only life: to wit as everyone {otherwise|more|different} does. Probably most {ethnicities|civilizations|nationalities} prize, as ours {appropriately|deservingly} does, making a contributions by working hard {at the office|at your workplace|at the job} that you love; being the public secret, and intelligent; gathering an excess; and loving {your loved ones|your household} above all, and your dog, your boat, bird-watching. {Past|Over and above|Further than} {those activities|those techniques|those ideas} our culture might specialize in money, and celebrity, and {natural splendor|pure beauty|organic beauty}. {These types of are|These kinds of are} not universal. You like work and will love your grand kids, and somewhere in there you die.
Another {modern day|modern-day} consensus might be: You wear the best shoes you can afford, you seek to know Rome's best restaurants and the staffs, drive the best car, and vacation on Tenerife. And what a cook you are!
Or perhaps you take those next tribe's pigs in {exciting|fascinating|stimulating} raids; you grill yams; you trade for {tvs|television sets|tv sets} and hunt white-plumed {parrots|wild birds|chickens}. Everyone you know {wants|confirms|concurs}: {this is actually the|this can be the|this can be a} life. Perhaps you burn captives. You {arranged|established|placed} fire to a keen. Yours is the {human being|individual|individuals} struggle, or the {top notch|high level|professional} one, {to attain|to obtain|to accomplish}... whatever your own culture tells you: to publish the newspaper that proves the point; to advance in the firm and gain high title and salary, stock options, benefits; to get the loan to store the beans till their price rises; to {stay away from|avoid} capture, to feed your children or educate them to a feather {advantage|border}; or to count {hen house|vicissitude|percussion} or perfect your calligraphy; to eat the king's deer or catch the poacher; to spear the seal, intimidate the {foe|opponent|adversary}, {and become|and stay} {a huge|a major} man or beloved woman and {pass away|perish|expire} respected for the {domestic swine|swines|boars} {or maybe the|and also the|or perhaps the} title or the shoes. {Not really a|Not just a|Not only a} funeral. {Neglect|Ignore} funeral. {A large|A huge|A major} birthday get together. Since everyone {who are around you|with you} {wants|confirms|concurs}.
Since everyone {who are around you|with you} {wants|confirms|concurs} ever since there were people on earth that land is value, or labor is value, or learning is value, or
title, necklaces, degree, murex shells, or ownership of slaves. {Everybody knows|Everyone understands|Everyone should know} bees {tingle|trick|scam} and ghosts haunt and giving your robes away humiliates your competitors. That the enemies are barbarians. That wise men {go swimming|swimming|move} through the rock of the earth; that {homes|residences|properties} breed filth, airstrips {appeal to|entice|catch the attention of} airplanes, tornadoes punish, {forefathers|ancestors and forefathers|forebears} watch, {and you will|and you could} buy a shorter stay in purgatory. The black rock is holy, {or maybe the|and also the|or perhaps the} scroll; or the pangolin is {ay|o}, the quetzal is {ay|o}, this tree, water, {rock and roll|mountain|ordinary}, stone, cow, cross, or mountain and it's all true. The Red Sox. Or nothing at all is holy, as everyone intelligent knows.
Who is your "everyone"? Chess {experts|professionals|owners} scarcely surround themselves with motocross racers. {Would you like|Do you need|Are you wanting} aborigines at your birthday get together? And/or you serving yak-butter tea? Popular culture {offers|bargains|discounts} not in its {faraway|isolated|far away} past, or any type of other past, or any other culture. You know {no-one|no person} who {allongé|longiligne|étendu} to buy {a charentaise|a babouche|an espadrille} or be named to court or thrown into a volcano.
{Therefore the|And so the|Hence the} {false impression|impression|optical illusion}, like the visual field, is complete {They have|It includes} no holes except books you read and soon {neglect|ignore}. And death takes all of us by storm. {That which was|The thing that was|The fact that was} that, that life? What {otherwise|more|different} offered? If for him it was contract {link|connection|passage}, if for her it was copyright law, if for everyone it was {and it is|and is also|which is} an optimal {blend|combine|mixture} of {friends and family|relatives and buddies|family}, learning, contributions, and joy of making and amelioratingwhat else is there, or was there, or will there {ever before|at any time} be?
What else is a vision or {truth|reality|simple fact} of time and the peoples it bears giving from the mouth of the cosmos, from the round mouth of {perpetuity|everlasting|anniversary}, in {a broad|an extensive|a large} and parti-colored utterance. Inside the {complicated|intricate|sophisticated} weave of this utterance like fabric, in {the|their|it is} infinite domestic interstices, the centuries and continents and classes dwell. Each people knows only its own squares in the place, its wars and {devices|tools|musical instruments} and arts, and also the starry sky.
{Alright|Ok|Fine}, and then what? {State|Claim|Declare} you scale your own weft and see time's breadth and the {size|duration|span} of space. {You observe|The thing is|The truth is} the way the fabric both passes among the {celebrities|superstars|actors} and encloses them. You see in the place nearby, and aslant {further|even farther|far} off, the peoples variously scandalized or exalted in their squares. They work on their projects they flake.