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Sunshine's avatar

Your words land somewhere between comfort and provocation — reminding me how vital it is to hold space for both curiosity and discipline. I love how you frame the creative process as a dance between control and surrender. Thank you for the gentle push to keep seeking, even when the path isn’t clear.

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thank you so much! “Somewhere between comfort and provocation” - I love that! I do my best to aim for that kind of in-between space, that whisper of a distance between creating a safe space and a prompting to do hard things. That space that requires both serendipity and consistency. A clear path might be easy to walk, but it isn’t where we make discoveries. Thanks again!

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Dan Jandl's avatar

Love these!

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thanks Dan! I appreciate it!

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Andrea Fisher's avatar

Love this Duane. I too feel that every breath is a sacred experience. “Holy of holies.” I go to sleep at night meditating to the words of mystics, Christian and Jewish, I’m wondering if too study/read such texts. I hope you have a lovely Sunday.

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thank you so much! It’s funny you should ask. My BA is in the study of Religion. I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading texts from a wide swath of religious practitioners. Texts that I still enjoy returning to, because they have a way of offering a new discovery each time I do.

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Andrea Fisher's avatar

Amazing

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Jordan Nuttall's avatar

Hello there Duane, great post, and given the context, I thought you might enjoy hearing about a different, rather obscured map term:

https://open.substack.com/pub/jordannuttall/p/a-cartographic-view-of-tartaria?r=4f55i2&utm_medium=ios

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thanks for sharing Jordan! I appreciate it!

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Jordan Nuttall's avatar

It’s my pleasure Duane! I hope you enjoy it friend.

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Vanessa's avatar

And we must view these paradoxes as just that; to maintain an open and inquisitive mind and not take them as ultimate truths

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Duane Toops's avatar

Always opened-handed! Exactly!

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Joel Lambeth's avatar

Can I be all of them at once? Architect, gardener, scientist AND explorer?

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Duane Toops's avatar

I sure as hell try to be, haha!

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Vanessa's avatar

Yes! And the importance of the dialectic- the AND not always BUT/EITHER OR/THIS OR THAT - Both/All things can be true

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Duane Toops's avatar

Exactly that Vanessa! It’s the paradoxes that coexist simultaneously that yields the most interesting things! Thanks so much!

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Hannah Hunter's avatar

I appreciate that you're continuing this line of exploration, Duane - it's wonderful to see this notion finally entering the zeitgeist. For a strange example of where the scientist and explorer meet, I just found this video clip where John Cage, in his experimental exploration, sets the press bed on fire! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAa4NL3GfIU

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Duane Toops's avatar

This looks fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing! Looking forward to sitting with this!

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Martin Hughes's avatar

So, so true. I've feel I've developed a really nice balance between science and exploration, though my heart is very much in the exploring right now. 50/50 that kinda looks like 80/20. 😅

Your distinctions also make me think of David White's Visitors & Residents: https://daveowhite.com/vandr/

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Duane Toops's avatar

Oh, loving the idea of the distinction in this video already. Looking forward to watching it! As much as I’d like to say I lean more towards the explorer, I also realize that nearly every one of my explorations is also simultaneously an experiment and I’m always at all times testing hypotheses and collecting data.

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Martin Hughes's avatar

Hey, the quality of the outputs though... 💚 Scientific exploration with sound methodology and clear results!

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Duane Toops's avatar

Well…sound(ish) methodologies haha!

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Martin Hughes's avatar

😆

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