Preamble 9: Guarding Waterways

The very idea of guarding the eye, guarding one’s senses from the things that surround us can seem quite antiquated, especially in these days of relentless hyper-stimulation in all directions and at all times. Prudence in such matters has lost most of Latin origins of prudentia: “intelligence” or “discretion,” and perhaps especially lost is the sense of the “wisdom to see what is virtuous” (On-Line Etymological Dictionary). But there is a glimmer here, of something vaguely familiar:

The “custodia oculorum, the guarding of the eye” (Illich, 2005, p. 108) thus involves judgment regarding how we gaze, but also judgment regarding what I might surround myself with that would aid in such custody.