Make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar

We have had several lively meetings inspired by good and evil, the soul, the mind, and a wonderful discussion on how dying can be about many things and have very little to do with death.

Years ago I was introduced to an expression considered axiomatic in Anthropology – Make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar. The phrase originates with the German poet, Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772–1801), who wrote “To romanticize the world is to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar." I believe he was describing how to restore a sense of wonder, counter-acting the deadening of mind and spirit that everyday living can impose.

If you have read this far, I will assume the title quote took you somewhere, if only to a point of curiosity. For me, the words communicate contradiction and paradox, with a mirror-like symmetry. I think of Niels Bohr’s thought, “The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.”

Hope to see you April 11, 2026 at the U of G UC, meeting by the Starbucks.