Habits

There are habits of the head, the heart and the body. Of these three centres of intelligence, the body is the most difficult to de-condition. It’s where memories congeal. And where pain is.

Flesh chronicle

Memory is not primarily a mental function. The body is a flesh chronicle, a trove of old pain, of unresolved and still-percolating historical issues. Typically, difficult-to-diagnose illnesses take a long time to manifest.

Old pain

Old pain is buried pain—pain we haven’t dealt with. When the hurt happened, we didn’t know what to do, so we put it in the basement. It howls and rages down there. All it wants is the lights on, clear seeing, our thoughtless attention, the silent fortitude of love.

Bundled up

Memory is both collective and individual. Nations with the longest memories—Israel, for example, and Palestine—suffer the most, while countries with the shortest memories—Canada, for example, and Australia—suffer the least.

Memory is the past in a bundle. Politicians do not speak to Israel. They speak to its bundle.