In this conversation, we explore a poem by Wendell Berry which calls us to wake up from the numbing effects of conventional life and practice living with true aliveness. We begin by reflecting on how Berry's invitation to "do something that won't compute" challenges us to question the systems and habits that keep us trapped in unconscious patterns - the quick profit, the ready-made, the fear of death - and instead to embrace practices that cultivate genuine freedom and connection with life.
We delve into the tension between the familiar and the unfamiliar, discussing how our natural tendency to create predictable cycles can both build stable communities and wall us off from deeper truths. Through Berry's provocative lines, we consider how systems try to predict and control us, and how deliberately cultivating 'eccentricity' - living at least partially outside the dominant cultural expectations - can be a path to a kind of aliveness and responsibility for life. We examine how laughter, loving what seems undeserving, and asking questions without answers can shake us from our sleepiness, while also acknowledging that not all disruptions are equally valuable - suggesting that we measure new possibilities against what would satisfy someone bringing life into the world. Ultimately, we see Berry's manifesto as an invitation to practice deliberateness through conscious engagement with life's full complexity rather than waiting for life to wake us through crisis.
You can find out more about the Thirdspace Professional Coaching Course 2025-26 on the Thirdspace website wearethirdspace.org
This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.
Episode Overview
00:00 Introduction to Turning Towards Life
02:52 Exploring Wendell Berry's Manifesto
05:54 Eccentric Perspectives
09:52 Nature and Connection in Wendell Berry's Work
14:54 The Invitation to Question and Reflect
19:49 The Familiar vs. The Unfamiliar
24:38 Finding Sources of Truthfulness in Life
29:35 Conclusion and Reflection on the Conversation
Here's our source for this week:
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Wendell Berry
Photo by Nina Luong on Unsplash
----
Join Us Live in 2025
On Sunday 8th June 2025 it will be our 400th episode and we are planning a Turning Towards Life live gathering on Zoom. You're all very welcome to join. It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet us and to meet others. If you are at all interested and you would like to join us, please keep watching out and listening out on the podcast or you could head over towards our website turningtowards.life and sign up for our weekly emails there and you will get all of the information directly into your inbox.
We also have the launch of our Turning Towards Life live programme which is going to run in six month seasons. It's going to be in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice. If you go to turningtowards.life there is a button you can press to register your interest in this.
About Turning Towards Life
Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google, Amazon Music and Spotify.
Join Our Weekly Mailing: www.turningtowards.life/subscribe
Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife
Join Turning Towards Life Live: www.turningtowards.life/ttl-live-interest
Keywords:
Wendell Berry, Mad Farmer, Liberation Manifesto, Cultural Eccentricity, Personal Freedom, Questioning Systems, Breaking Patterns, Conscious Living, Familiar Patterns, Unfamiliar Paths, Habitual Thinking, Inner Liberation, Waking Up, Mindful Resistance, Practice Resurrection, Nature Connection, Deep Thinking, Cultural Criticism, Consumer Culture, Human Connection, Authentic Living, Life Cycles, Pattern Disruption, Personal Growth, Comfort Challenges, Life Transformation, Living Philosophy, Environmental Awareness, Mindfulness Practices, Critical Thinking, Spiritual Growth, Social Systems, Alternative Lifestyles, Life Purpose, Contemplative Practice, Authentic Relationships, Ecological Awareness, Meaning Making, Challenging Conventions, Life Transitions, Wisdom Traditions, Self Reflection, Countercultural Ideas, Modern Alienation, Life Balance, Ethical Living, Social Change, Human Potential
