To dwell well is to be who we truly are: to know a place that shelters the best of our humanity, a place from which to see the future with tranquility. So intrinsic is dwelling to the human condition that philosopher Martin Heidegger drew parallels: As the root of the German verb ‘to be’ is cognate with ‘to dwell,’ so a human being is a human dwelling. The old High German word meaning ‘to dwell,’ buan, also means to cherish and protect what surrounds you: your environment, in other words. In Heidegger’s analysis, dwelling involves caring for the ‘fourfold:’ earth, the divine, other humans, and sky.
• The house as a dwelling place for the body: the earth.
• Education as a dwelling place for the mind: the divine.
• The economy as a dwelling place for the other 99 percent of humanity.
• The climate as a dwelling place for all, like the unownable sky.
(via visualturn)
