It is the day of the magnificent fete: we are ready! That grand thrust of humanity – the shoes to be polished, the black bowties retrieved, the pressed shirts presented, the elegant gowns displayed and the shawls admired (let us not forget the shawls) — is transmogrified from a stunning disorder into an alluring elegance. How does this occur? No one seems to know, but it just does – the miraculous comes to pass. Have you ever remarked on this? Few participants ever present themselves looking disheveled.
Voyages: a wedding – the journey
Life is filled with traditions. And, even though our civilization, at present, seems to be “an enigma wrapped in a riddle,” (1) to paraphrase Winston Churchill, time moves on. I am off to a wedding. Like any transition, it must include great travel and adventure prior to the event itself. It does: being far across land and sea. At first, we must endure the ubiquitous process of “security.” Now I am convinced that this overall procedure has taken on a life of its own. When I transit from one hermetically sealed space, an airport, to another hermetically sealed space, (2) another airport, it defies logic why a person would have to be searched on departure and upon arrival — but in many cases, this is what happens.
Our quality of life
“Quality of life” is a term so ubiquitous and oft used that it has become banal. The question to be asked is: What does the phrase truly mean or entail? Are we speaking of material well-being or spiritual enlightenment? Are we living the ultimate American Dream or are we ensconced in the upper reaches of Bhutan: the self-described happiest country on Earth? (1) These questions are fraught with as many new questions as they are filled with antiquated answers. Obviously, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Are we capable of making ourselves “World Citizens” (2) or must we choose between civilizations and countries?
My social responsibility
I always find that it is great fun to deal with people, young souls in particular – they are diverse and multi-faceted – distressed and joyous. Recently, I had the chance to experience several people who were truly morose – everything was despicable and life was a nuisance at best. One was slightly older and the other was of school age. I used to dismiss these sorts of people and just “move on.” I would simply tell myself “Who has the time to deal with a curmudgeon?” That is the point, of course — no one does! They continue to exist in a world that is devoid of human kindness and thoughtfulness. They are putting “up a wall” and stopping the goodness of human interaction flow over their emotional parapet. I have decided that I am no longer going to give these people “a pass.” (1)
Stand in the sunlight
When do I get my silence, that little piece of space that is only mine and allows me to reflect? There are so, so many things that I truly do not understand. These occur to such an extent that I could believe that this life is but an illusion: a dream within a dream. When we watch the “news,” we are continually exposed to unbelievable violence and anguish. Yet in my life, I have experienced none of it. Am I merely lucky or is this but a created vector, a falsehood which attempts to move me in a certain way of thinking? I have come to contemplate thoughts like these as the years flash by. An example: as we know from the media, the world is quite literally “coming unglued.” There is unheard of violence on the streets and society is descending into anarchy, in the worst sense of the word. Yet two weeks ago, I went to a wedding and sat at a table with a local businessman. He had just opened a factory in a “violent” part of the world. I asked him about the security of his person and that of his employees. He looked at me in a quite flummoxed way. “I would never invest in a dangerous country; that country is fine. Why?” Now, who should I believe: the mass communications industry or this man?
The danger of the vanity of the body
As I age chronologically, I am reminded of what an Indian doctor once told me in Calcutta. “The body is like an old Mercedes Benz, sir – replace the tires, clean the headlights and change the oil, and it will run for over 500,000 kilometers.” What he meant by this, of course, is that the corporeal being carries me throughout a, potentially long, life: keep it healthy with prescient and intelligent practices – good nutrition, regular exercise, etc — and it will run for a long time.
Catching the moment
The first several weeks, of either the beginning of school or the return to work after an extended vacation, are turbulent, to say the least. We quickly forget the pleasures associated with rest and the joy of family and old friends. We must plunge “headlong” into the tasks at hand. Why does paper on a desk seem to grow exponentially when we are away? All of this, I remind myself is self-created, albeit the vacation itself or the anxiety that I now experience. Calming these feelings, is, of course, a lot easier “said than done.”
Loneliness as knowledge
I find long-distance travel to be an extremely interesting phenomenon. When we read tales of the past, we of often shocked and yet enamored with just how long a journey used to take. When Magellan’s expedition first traversed the globe, it took an almost indescribable amount of time, from 1519 to 1522 – three years — and it cost Magellan his life and the lives of most of his crew. Only 18 of the original 270 crew members survived (1) Today in virtually the “blink of an eye” you are deposited to any of the four corners of the world. (2) Travel has accelerated to such a point that it seems almost commonplace to most of us, I am sure.
My ongoing self-improvement
We are said to be flowing streams of consciousness, or are we? What reality do I really occupy other than the immediate moment, which itself is brief and fleeting? How do I find that elusive peace that all of us so desire? As the new semester begins to set its course, we are all afforded an opportunity to start with a clean slate. Our “whiteboard” need not be impregnated with anything that we don’t put there ourselves: pain, jealousy, envy or regret, to name but a few. These emotions limit our opportunities for self-improvement. The secret, I maintain, is to find yourself in the present and yet cast a determined eye to the future.
My life as me
Hope: I often question what this word truly means. To me it suggests that, until the day I die, I can affect change; I can make a difference. Since I was a little boy, I have always believed that life, though somewhat unpredictable, has true value. At birth, you are presented with the concrete opportunity to achieve whatever you want: if you truly want it and accept its consequences. Agreeing to this premise, my sentient journey has been a roller-coaster of successes and failures: in short, a grand adventure. I acknowledge whatever I have been dealt. I have no regrets.