[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fQfWX7X2-Bq6o8-ul3qa8t1LmtisxD-mioMT9iPkrAxY":3,"$fcOtHfBMPgGDmqkYYHYpV9zgzoMvvQtIT_dqztdpAdIs":27},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"bio_jsonld":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},6492,"Pico Iyer","P",290,null,"pico-iyer",[12,16,20,24],{"tag_id":13,"tag_name":14,"tag_count":15},56,"thinking",19,{"tag_id":17,"tag_name":18,"tag_count":19},904,"travel",8,{"tag_id":21,"tag_name":22,"tag_count":23},60,"writing",5,{"tag_id":25,"tag_name":26,"tag_count":23},2665,"home",{"quotes":28,"pagination":94},[29,37,43,49,56,63,69,76,82,88],{"id":30,"quote_text":31,"author_id":5,"source_id":32,"has_image":33,"author":34,"source":35,"quote_tag":36,"commentary":9},3883328,"Travel, for me, is a little bit like being in love because suddenly, all your senses are at the setting marked 'on.' Suddenly, you're alert to the secret patterns of the world.",7,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":38,"quote_text":39,"author_id":5,"source_id":32,"has_image":33,"author":40,"source":41,"quote_tag":42,"commentary":9},3883313,"For centuries, Cuba's greatest resource has been its people.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":44,"quote_text":45,"author_id":5,"source_id":32,"has_image":33,"author":46,"source":47,"quote_tag":48,"commentary":9},3883281,"For more and more of us, home has really less to do with a piece of soil than, you could say, with a piece of soul. If somebody suddenly asks me, 'Where's your home?' I think about my sweetheart or my closest friends or the songs that travel with me wherever I happen to be.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":50,"quote_text":51,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":53,"source":54,"quote_tag":55,"commentary":9},3351018,"As soon as I’m on the road, I see, often palpably, that I know nothing at all, which is always a great liberation.",6,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":57,"quote_text":58,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":59,"source":60,"quote_tag":61,"commentary":62},3351017,"One of the strange laws of the contemplative life,” Thomas Merton, one of its sovereign explorers, pointed out, “is that in it you do not sit down and solve problems: you bear with them until they somehow solve themselves. Or until life solves them for you.” Or, as Annie Dillard, who sat still for a long time at Tinker Creek – and in many other places – has it, “I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nThomas Merton and Annie Dillard, both renowned spiritual writers, reflect on the nature of contemplation and creativity. Merton, a Trappist monk, wrote extensively on the intersection of faith and spirituality in his works like \"The Seven Storey Mountain\" (1948), while Dillard's Pulitzer Prize-winning \"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek\" (1974) chronicles her experiences with nature and introspection.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nThe paradoxical truth these authors reveal is that, in contemplative pursuits, one does not actively solve problems or create through sheer force of will but instead waits for solutions to emerge organically. This means letting go of the need for control and embracing a passive yet intentional approach to creativity.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, take a cue from Dillard's \"sitting up with\" metaphor: when faced with a creative challenge or problem, consider setting it aside rather than forcing a solution. Allow yourself time to incubate ideas, letting the subconscious work its magic before revisiting the issue with fresh eyes and perspective.",{"id":64,"quote_text":65,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":66,"source":67,"quote_tag":68,"commentary":9},3351016,"All his novels are unreliable gospels for those who can’t be sure of a thing.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":70,"quote_text":71,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":72,"source":73,"quote_tag":74,"commentary":75},3351015,"The mother of Jesus, I sometimes remember, was visited by an angel and is seen as a saint; the mother of the Buddha died at his birth. Is it any surprise that Buddhism is about learning to live with loss, while Christianity is about salvation from above?",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nThis quote, likely from Pico Iyer's book \"The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home,\" reflects his observations on the divergent narratives of Buddhism and Christianity. As a traveler and writer, Iyer has spent considerable time studying and reflecting on these two major world religions. His thoughts on the mother figures of Jesus and Buddha reveal a deeper understanding of the existential concerns of each faith.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nWhat lies beneath this quote is the acknowledgment that the core human experiences of loss and salvation are inextricably linked to the foundational stories of these religions. Iyer subtly suggests that the way we cope with loss (Buddhism) and the promise of salvation (Christianity) are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary aspects of the human condition.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, consider that embracing the inevitability of loss can be a powerful catalyst for spiritual growth, just as the promise of salvation can provide comfort and hope. By acknowledging and integrating these opposing forces, we can cultivate a more nuanced understanding of our own resilience and the complexities of the human experience.",{"id":77,"quote_text":78,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":79,"source":80,"quote_tag":81,"commentary":9},3351014,"If you grow up between cultures, if you get accustomed to traveling, it’s easy to find yourself always on the outside of things, looking in. This can be ideal for a writer – or a spy; you’ve always got, analytically, a ticket out.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":83,"quote_text":84,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":85,"source":86,"quote_tag":87,"commentary":9},3351013,"But as fast as geography is coming under our control, the clock is exerting more and more tyranny over us.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":89,"quote_text":90,"author_id":5,"source_id":52,"has_image":33,"author":91,"source":92,"quote_tag":93,"commentary":9},3351012,"The Sufis, like all mystics, are singers of a homesickness that is a kind of hope; all of us are exiles in the world, they tell us, longing to get back to the place that is our rightful home.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":95,"totalPages":96,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":97},1,29,10]