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<\/a>For No\u00ebl, the French received a gift of unknowingness. It\u2019s a lucky gift! \u00a0Les gilets jaunes have doled out confusion to their compatriots who are singularly sure of themselves, gifted in the pur et dur, the absolute. \u00a0Their clipped \u00a0\u201cmais oui!\u201d or \u201cmais non!” has, until now, been singularly annoying.<\/p>\nIn this new moment, when asked about politics, people pause, hesitate, search for words that are taking days and weeks to form. They glance out the window at the full moon, the crumbling cornices, the slate roofs. Roll over, Descartes! Perhaps there are no answers at all!<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, the conceptual ways of thinking are sinking under their own weight. \u00a0The good news is that the French have a great correction in their back pocket. \u00a0Food, or exquisite attention to the everyday. \u00a0The march\u00e9s are cornucopias of oysters, escargots, fishes, feathered pheasants; they have a milky way of pungent cheese, chocolate and of course the faucets nearly run with wine. \u00a0Celebrations aren’t just about consumption: they are happenings of community. \u00a0 I also think of Francis Ponge’s poems about oysters and escargots. \u00a0When systems can\u2019t be trusted, when they fail, go to what you can touch, taste, what is close to the heart. Don\u2019t go to nihilism, go to regeneration. \u00a0It’s a chance to reimagine what society could be, to clear space for imagination and the beauty of what is.<\/p>\n We saw a show of the photographer Willy Ronis, whose brilliant eye caught French culture in various states of undress, layered with two or three complex emotions. Reading a plaque, I was astrounded when the critic wrote, \u2018After the interruption of the Occupation, he returned to \u2026\u201d Feathers ruffled at first, I thought, “As if the Gestapo was a minor thing!\u201d Then I remembered la dur\u00e9e. I realizing this is the strategy of half full: back to everyday life, back to reality. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For No\u00ebl, the French received a gift of unknowingness. It\u2019s a lucky gift! \u00a0Les gilets jaunes have doled out confusion to their compatriots who are singularly sure of themselves, gifted in the pur et dur, the absolute. \u00a0Their clipped … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n