Ffolkes,
“For one human being to love another human being:
that is perhaps the most difficult task
that has been entrusted to us,
the ultimate task, the final test and proof,
the work for which all other work
is merely preparation.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
Reluctantly poised….
Hajime…. We humans are weird. While such a statement could be construed as critical, in this case, it is more of an observation, based on personal experience. To fully comprehend the depth and meaning would require more time than I’m willing to spend today, so, y’all will once more have to deal with any disappointment on your own, cuz I ain’t talkin’…. Don’t worry, it’s nothing untoward, merely, well, weird, and it won’t delay the production of today’s Pearl any more than it already has with this paragraph.
Of course, this means we don’t have anything more to put here in the intro, a not unusual conundrum. One might think, after two days of sloughing off the work, I’d be a bit more organized, but, then, thinking can often lead to inaccurate conclusions, especially when the subject matter, i.e., me, is rather an ambiguous figure, to say the least. If we said more than the least, we could be sued rather heavily, which is why we never do. And, yes, we have now devolved, rather suddenly, I might add, into complete blather & nonsense. It’s our default when we are thus challenged, as you may remember.
Our Pearl today will be okay, anyway. I finally put together a decent rant, stimulated by, of all things, a question somebody asked me on Facebook. The rest is pretty standard, and, if I don’t get started putting it together, it won’t get done. To make that happen, I’ll end this now, here, so there won’t be any further forays into the outer reaches. Hell, at this point, I’m thinking, if I don’t do this right now, the end results will be completely unpredictable, never a good thing for us….. Let’s just get the hell out of here, while we can….
Shall we pearl?….
“By definition, when you are investigating the unknown,
you do not know what you will find.”
~~ The Ultimate Principle ~~
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Herself, Ms. Raitt
Some days, it’s just got to be the best. Here’s a session I haven’t heard yet, so, let’s have a listen, shall we?….
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Bonnie Raitt
BBC Four Sessions
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“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”
~~ Antoine de Saint Exupery ~~
In the most recent months, my thoughts have begun crystallizing, in a large sense. By ‘large’, I refer to Life at Large, the panorama of human experience on Planet Earth, in all its hideously insane, yet, somehow, vividly fascinating glory. In a cosmic sense, we humans haven’t been around very long; it’s only been about 10 or so thousand years since we left off living on the land full time, without the civilizing (?) influence of writing, gunpowder, and the concept of religion. (Thank you to Tom Carlyle…). Yet, in that minuscule portion of close to five billion years of known Universal history, we have come to the rather grandiose opinion we are the pinnacle of the whole shebang, the highest form of life as we know it, with all the attendant privileges and rights, whatever we conceive those to be.
So, here we are, a motley, unrestrictedly reproductive organism, in season all year round, barely past the time of sleeping on soft leaves in a cave lit by torches, wandering over the face of the planet, even probing our proboscis’ all over the solar system, in our search for new places to fuck. By ‘fuck’ I mean fuck in all its incarnations. We are always looking to fuck; each other, other species, the environment, space/time, biologic creation, the physical universe, the moon, other planets, etc. We want to fuck with, around, on, and up against damn near everything we encounter, from dirt, to atoms, to practically anything our wicked, inventive imaginations can think of, and/or turn into reality….
See, that’s our problem, too. We can’t seem to stop ourselves for any appreciable time from fucking with everything, yet, our overactive, innovative imagination is too powerful for us to keep up with, being the simple animals we really still are, in terms of our nervous systems, perceptive and cognitive abilities, and, some of our physical characteristics, which, in and of themselves, can override any of the other talents/abilities/natural characteristics we may possess. For example, certain smells can literally stop your entire metabolism, instantly creating urges to run, vomit, scream, or otherwise indicate systemic panic; the same can happen with a subliminal perception, which, under given circumstances, can send the bravest, strongest human running in terror, without even knowing why they have panicked.
But, we think we are so cool; Terry Pratchett, I think, described it well when he accused us of being so primitive we still thought digital watches were cool. In truth, we are simply out of our depths, for the most part, though it may seem otherwise, if you listen to TV, or, mostly, anyone else who has an opinion. The only REAL truths we now can depend on are the ones we find within our selves, for everything in the world we have created around us is based on false data and conclusions, which, in the face of their relation to actual physical reality, become delusional, and thus, dangerous to us.
One of the most commonly notions regarding human nature is our Ego, which I have capitalized, for that is how it affects us. However, to promote a more productive frame of mind I have found to be of value, I will forgo further capitalization, to encourage each one reading to devalue the importance of how ego drives your bus, so to speak…. You see, we are more than merely a mind, or, and ego. In fact, the ego may only be a hallucination, as some philosophers AND neuroscientists have suggested. Our existence is also greatly affected, in reality, by physical forces, not all of which we directly perceive, and, by spiritual forces, which are also not necessarily easily identified. Yet, each of those two forces, physical, and spiritual, can instantly assume greater significance than anything our mind perceives, up to and including the potential loss of life…
For example, in the physical world, there are many forces we don’t perceive directly; magnetic, gravitational (other than as motion induced by its presence), certain wavelengths of light and electromagnetic, and, others we can only perceive by instruments. Any of these, sufficiently strong, can be dangerous to us. Spiritually, who can deny the power of what happens to us under the influence of love? Or fear of losing love? There are also many spiritual/emotional forces in our makeup we don’t perceive, or comprehend at all….
However, the ego, due to its own nature as part of us, believes in itself so strongly, it acts as if none of that is anything it cannot overcome to achieve its own ends…. To my current way of thinking, this is a bit grandiose, given our history of success at making reality do what we want. Yes, we have made great technological advances, but, none of them have improved the human condition a whit, and, in fact, are now becoming a danger to the entire species, by continuing to treat the universe as its own toy…. simply because we deny our own nature, which remains divided, unaware of the potential progress to be made by ‘merging the three parts…. which, in truth are but two, the mental and the physical; the spirit is the bridge between them, upon which we refuse to walk…
This discussion was provoked by an exchange I had on Facebook yesterday, prompted by a not unusually provocative statement by a friend (Red, the Fabulous), who is, in my estimation, one of the five smartest people alive. And, yes, I know y’all might think that’s hyperbole, but, it isn’t. In any case, the following exchange took place, which I reproduce now because it is a fine summary of all I’m trying to say here today, in just a few lines…. To wit:
Red: “I want to live in a world where people know how to merge. ”
Me: “If you’re talking traffic, you;re dreaming. If you’re talking life, well, it might be some time yet… *wink* ”
Red: “Yes.”
T.C: “Physically, mentally or spiritually? ”
Me: “They are all three the same exact thing; our inability to ‘merge’ them is a big part of all the troubles you see in the world… I, too, would like to live in such a world, in which we all could look past our ego’s need to divide them, and us… ”
That’s the word I needed… divided. We have a divided nature. It’s natural, in a universe that exists in duality. But, we let one part of our nature overmaster the rest of what the universe has to tell us; by doing so, we create our own inner conflict, which is reflected into the society we have created. Until we learn to ‘merge’ the different parts of our nature, to see the connections there are in life, then we will remain separated, from ourselves, from each other, and from our own universe. In doing so, we condemn ourselves to our only real hell, which is living disconnected from life…. and the love that is possible when we are part of everything…
Serendipitously, I have already shown the exactly right pearl with which this discussion should be closed… Here, then, is the correct path, as indicated by, naturally, a poet….
“For one human being to love another human being:
that is perhaps the most difficult task
that has been entrusted to us,
the ultimate task, the final test and proof,
the work for which all other work
is merely preparation.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
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A Failure to Germinate
Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.
Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.
Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.
I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.
My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.
Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/27/2012
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I couldn’t, in good conscience, call this one a Naked Pearl grouping; it’s just too odd. It starts oddly, ends oddly, and uses an odd path to get where it ends up. The best I can call it is to say it’s a random harlequin pearl, and let it go at that…. For one thrown together in jig time, it’s really not bad…. Enjoy!…
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“To be, or what?”
~~ Sylvester Stallone ~~
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“There’s no easy quick way out,
we’re gonna have to live through our whole lives,
win, lose, or draw.”
~~ Walt Kelly ~~
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“Self-improvement is a dangerous form of vanity.”
~~ Alan Watts ~~
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But where shall I start?
The world is so fast, I shall start with the country I know best, my own.
But my country is so very large, I had better start with my town.
But my town, too, is large. I had best start with my street.
No, my home.
No, my family.
Never mind,
I shall start with myself.”
~~ Elie Wiesel ~~
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“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.”
~~ Publius Syrus ~~
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It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.”
~~ Bette Midler, The Rose ~~
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“A child of five would understand this.
Send someone to fetch a child of five.”
~~ Groucho Marx ~~
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This is pretty late getting done, compared to our usual time to post; oh, well. Such is life in the fast lane, ffolkes, so, we may as well just deal, and get on with the day. Hopefully, this will help make that go better than it otherwise might. Then again, perhaps not. Time will tell, as it always does, the mouthy bastard. I, personally, shall merely say, see y’all tomorrow…. and, that’s all the warning you’ll get….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….