Ffolkes,
Many years ago, even before I got married & raised kids, I had already made it a habit to never go out on New Year’s Eve. It always seemed a sucker’s bet to me, and I never had all that great a time at any parties I attended. I took the attitude of “I don’t go our when all the amateurs are out” and would stay home & celebrate the new year fairly quietly. It’s kind of like when Harry Truman said “I never got in trouble over what I never said.” For me, New Year’s Eve was when I never had a problem I didn’t cause myself, by over-consumption of alcohol. I have no regrets about that, intending as I do to continue the policy tonight, and every other New Year’s I have left in me. I don’t believe I’m missing much, as I also don’t get terribly wrapped up in the holiday frenzy anyway, and everybody out on the streets is either drunk, partially drunk, or insanely cheery about the passing of another day. Far as I can tell, on every January 1 in my life, the sun came up just like it did yesterday, and as it will tomorrow. The times between hold the only differences, and we are the ones who determine how that boat floats…….let’s get on with the fun…..
___________________________________
A few random thoughts on the meaning of insanity, and by implication, sanity…….all came from one dive. Pearl after pearl on the same subject kept presenting itself for my perusal, so after a few, I just gave up & collected them. So here they are, all with a bit to say about those among us who perceive reality from a whole different place than you or me…..
‘What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art.’ — Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Reminiscences
If sanity were dollars I’d be bankrupt.
“I come from a long line of Southern psychotics and an environment where madness is currency and conversation is blood sport.” — Elizabeth Ashley
According to figures from the Justice Department, the average rapist serves only 5.2 years on jail, and the average murderer serves only 8.6 years. By contrast, the average time served for possession of LSD is 10.1 years, and many Americans are serving mandatory minimum sentences of 20 to 25 years for possession or sale of marijuana.
(Insanity comes in many guises…. your choice as to which is real, and which is delusion….)
Avoid reality at all costs!
And who (in time) knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best glory shall be sent
T’ enrich unknowing nations with our stores?
What worlds in the yet unformed Occident
May come refin’d with th’ accents that are ours?
— Samuel Daniel (1562-1619) — Musophilus, Stanza 163
(Psychosis is rooted in fear, and fear also assumes many masks…..)
I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet-hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed.
— Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — Oft in the Stilly Night
(An accurate description of the onset of depression…..)
Why ask me? I’m just visiting reality.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled program…..
___________________________________
To get people to think they are thinking begets friendship, whereas actually to make people think begets resentment. There is no level so low to which people will not stoop, even honorable people, to avoid the difficulty of thinking.
So true, so true…..it fascinates me at times, this reluctance on the part of most folks to using the one and only evolutionary advantage they possess over other creatures. Compared to other animals, we’re not particularly fast, nor very strong, and our teeth and nails are not very good weapons compared to those of a domestic cat, for just one example. We need to wear clothing to protect ourselves from our own planet’s weather extremes. We rely on other species for our sustenance, being unable to create it ourselves.
In the final analysis, we’re pretty fragile, physically speaking; even a soft blow administered to the correct point can cause death. Hell, our bodies have more than one design flaw; how about how our food and air processing facilities? They cross each other at a critical junction, at the throat, and frequently cause problems that can have mortal consequences. Our elimination process and sexual organs also cross paths, in a manner of speaking; the outlet for the former is right next to the points of ingress and egress of the latter, depending on gender. From a strictly engineering viewpoint, it’s not a very good design.
It’s clear that there is little chance of humans ever dominating on the basis of physical characteristics; most animals are much better equipped for that. Our mind, our imagination, our perception of more than merely physical energy in the universe, these are our advantages over other creatures. We have the ability to remember the past in the present, and use those memories to extrapolate the future.
This is an incredible evolutionary leap, one that allows humans to readily turn their perceptions of how things work into tools that enable us to alter reality to suit our wishes. We can’t really fight our way out of a paper bag, and our defenses against predators is weak in comparison to other animals. But the power of our minds is sufficient to neutralize all physical and environmental advantages of the other inhabitants, and gives mankind the means to not merely survive, but to thrive and dominate.
So, the question remains: why are so many people so averse to using their minds? Well, I don’t know, for sure. I could make some guesses, and they might even be accurate. But it really doesn’t matter, because the only creature who can cause us to change ourselves, is ourselves. Nobody can make us do anything we don’t want to do. Most folks learn the power of the word “No” at a young age (age 2 is customary for most folks), and become so enamored with it, it becomes their default position for anything that is, or even appears to be, ‘difficult’. Sad, but true…..and wishing won’t make it go away. I can only wish I were smart enough to figure out how to get folks to see the light, before its too late, and the bulb burns out for good…..
___________________________________
When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,
The post of honor is a private station.
— Joseph Addison (1672-1719) — Cato, Act iv, Sc. 4
Aye, ’tis a lonely station as well. I find it very rare to meet anyone today who places any credence in the concept of honorable behavior. If acting honorably is considered at all, it is well after avarice, pride, bigotry, ignorance, or self-interest is used as a first attempt. I find very few people I meet who live honorably; too many shortcuts used to obtain their desires, too many times ignoring evil, thereby encouraging it. Too may times people make their decisions on how to act toward others by first considering their own self-interests, never considering whether or not the other person has, or is even entitled to the same. Most interactions between people have become a contest to see who can manipulate the other into giving them their desires, regardless of consequence, or the ripple effect.
People just don’t seem to care anymore about other people. They wander through their lives in controversy, never knowing that they are their own worst enemy. Sometimes, it’s enough to make me pull my hair out, and for me at this stage, that’s not a good thing; what I have is long, but there is less and less of it every day.
Ah well, maybe I’ll completely retire, and stop paying attention to anything. No phone, no TV, maybe a little music. The radio news is probably not too toxic in small doses, and there’s always the option of making use of the On/Off switch…… SIGH……I’ve been an optimist for most of my life. It’s getting really tough to maintain a positive outlook, in the face of the mounting evidence that we are in a cultural stage best described by Robert Heinlein when he called these the “Crazy Years”, a time when the news resembles a self-edited periodical produced by the mentally ill…..Entropy is rising, and chaos is near, I’m afraid…..stay alert out there…….
“Better contraceptives will control population only if people will use them. A nuclear holocaust can be prevented only if the conditions under which nations make war can be changed. The environment will continue to deteriorate until pollution practices are abandoned. We need to make vast changes in human behavior.” — B. F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity
___________________________________
I’ve had this dialogue more than once; how ’bout you?
It: Can I ask you a question?
Me: You just did.
It: Ok, can I ask you two questions?
Me: You just did.
It: Ok, can I ask you another question after this one?
Me: You’ve already asked three questions without permission, why bother asking for the fourth?
— Michael Constant
Funny, isn’t it? How some folks believe they are entitled to “just a moment of your time.” I’ve had the above conversation, or one like it, on several occasions in my life, and each time my astonishment grows. If a person, in trying to be friendly and/or helpful, gives up their moments on every occasion asked, they are willingly enslaving themselves. Once one has the reputation of being the “go to guy” or “the ask her, she’ll know, or she’ll do it girl” they may as well forge and wear their own collar. Duty, which is the only valid reason for which a man acts, can a burden, yes. But it is a burden that is willingly shouldered, because the honorable man chooses his duty; no one may do it for him. Once chosen, duty will be fulfilled. But the choice is purely subjective.
However, this doesn’t stop other folks from trying to get us to do what they want, and they will use lies, innuendo, shame, defamation, guilt, or whatever manipulative tool they think they need, to get us to do their bidding. If one is not firm and self-reliant, they will find themselves never having enough time to meet their own needs, busy as they are with the needs of others. Best all-around to just stop them in the beginning, making it clear that one will make one’s own choices, and will not give up their time without good cause, as judged by themselves, and no other……
___________________________________
If I don’t drive around the park,
I’m pretty sure to make my mark.
If I’m in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again.
If I abstain from fun and such,
I’ll probably amount to much;
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn. — Dorothy Parker
I don’t really have a lot to say here. Dorothy Parker is one of my favorite people from the early 20th century. She was a semi-militant feminist in a time when it was still unfashionable, a description that is perhaps due more to her unique personality than to any cause. She was herself, period. She refused to be anyone else, and was not afraid to say so in no uncertain terms, and with undeniable elegance and style. She had a rapier wit, and used it unsparingly on the rich, famous, and whomever else she felt needed a dose of it. I’m glad she lived, and glad to have knowledge of so great a spirit as inspiration…..
___________________________________
I must say again I like this new format for the POVW (Pearls of Virtual Wisdom); it gives me more to write/rant about than the old way. I guess that’s a good thing. If nothing else, it’s caused an increased output, and that’s good. I’ve finally figured out the best way for me to make a little money at this, and hopefully can gain a little breathing space in the constant war with the economy. The only drawback I’ve noted so far is a tendency to ramble on and on……I’m writing about what I believe in, so the passion is coming out with it, increasing quantity at the minimum. I’m working hard to maintain the quality……hope I’m doing okay at it……any who, that’s enough for one morning. Y’all take care out there……
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Kowabunga!
gigoid 