Like many people, I go to a gym. My body is not young, so like all machines, its elements are subjected to “wear and tear.” I have a lot of respect for my corporeality and I know that it is a finite entity; therefore, it must be protected and preserved. I am one of the club’s older members, so I am left with the opinion that most of us have given up the fight against our aging body: that being said, countless stomachs protrude unnecessarily. I, on the other hand, believe that with a little nurturing, we can live continue to live active and fulfilling lives well into our latter years. This also includes our intellectual activities. Our mind is much like a muscle, the more we keep it limber, the stronger its elasticity. Attending any youthful rock concert or art exhibit is enough to snap you back fifty years to your youth: great fun – though hard on the senses, especially the ears. I recently went to one such activity and found myself at the very front row. I had to defend my position from a crush of eager attendees, all wanting to seek a better view of the stage. Having fended off the attackers, I was able to “enjoy” the following three hours of musical onslaught. The lingering result of the valiant defense of my locale was that I was virtually deaf for the following three days. But as Franz Kafka (1883-1924) reminds us,” Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
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If I could change the world, I would…
Most people conclude the phrase; “If I could change the world, I would …” with, “I don’t know!” The immediate question that is called to mind is, why not? The “why not” is because most of us truly feel powerless in our reality. Once again, we must ask the question: “Who creates this reality?” the succinct and somewhat tragic answer is, “I do!” Now to be fair, we are overwhelmed with trivia and it fully blinds us from any introspection whatsoever; but, are we not “fighters?” Did we not build our societies on the efforts of those who had come before? This is a clarion call to all fair-minded individuals to embark on a path of thought and introspection. We must not be fooled by the digital juggernaut that threatens to cripple us, both intellectually and spiritually. It is time to think!
Faith & Hope
Faith: In Western culture, our churches and synagogues are empty. They were, of course, once filled to overflowing – gushing forth humanity at the close of the service. Was faith any stronger then than it is now? Attendance at a religious service is certainly on the decline: but survey after survey shows that we are a searching lot. (1)
The Struggle
Do you remember when you were extremely young and you wanted to accomplish a mission or project? I recall a very traumatic experience when my little pedal-car got stuck in a mud hole. I couldn’t go forward nor go back. I did not want to leave the miniature vehicle because that would sully my shoes: even at an early age, my parents had instilled me with the concept that clean shoes constituted a gentleman. I was forced to maneuver the car backwards and forwards. Finally, it broke free and I was propelled across the gravel driveway, almost hitting a tree. I had learned Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. (1) I was lucky that I didn’t experience the real result of the axiom
Action
You may ask yourself. “How am I actually going to get my message out into the world?” This is a very interesting and clever question. First and foremost, you are going to have to be “just a touch brave.” To paraphrase Osho: “There are no heroes and no cowards: there is only action.” (1) Public speaking is not a natural process for most people. You will become nervous: your palms will perspire and your heart rate will increase. You must accept this as natural. There are many techniques that you can use to calm yourself. Mindfulness, (2) for example, is an excellent meditation technique. At the onset, it is imperative that you unflinchingly believe in “your message,” (I want to save the world, for example): this is paramount. Then you are able to proceed. There are several “tried and true” methodologies that will greatly assist you as you build your communication skills. Firstly your discourse must be rational: it must be predicated on a thesis or idea (A); it must hold an interesting and articulate main body (B+C+D) and possess a succinct and clever conclusion that ties back to the original thesis (A).
Age
Age is an extremely interesting phenomenon. Like so much of history, you can talk about it, visit its sites of trauma and battles, but never truly experience it: you just weren’t there. So it is with time. You can hear its descriptions and attempt to create its images, but this is mostly nonsensical until you live through it. When I was young, the aged were distant and surreal. They appeared oddly out of place in a world filled with beautiful things. This included my grandparents.
Your First Job
I often feel like a curmudgeon. Whenever I speak of my life experiences, they sound like tales from centuries past, nonsensical, detached and lacking in joy. That being said, all times are linked by our collective history in this capital-driven society. Thus relating the former has relevance in the present. The hackneyed phrase of my generation was, “When I was young …” and you fill in the blanks. My favorite being “We had to walk five kilometers to school in two meters of snow.” What are the collective thoughts of this current cohort?
Feelings
This morning, there was an announcement on the radio of some government department seeking over 1,500 people to fill positions that were being vacated by retiring workers. It all sounded very good: safety in perpetuity. In this economy, as with every past economy, young people have always been encouraged to “play it safe – no risks!” The great difficulty faced by all is that we live in a “world of pictures” that fills us with the intrinsic want for adventure: fantastical computer games only reinforce this. You can take that mind-numbing job, but for how long and at what risk to your psyche? I was speaking with a young man recently about his future and what it would entail. We discussed what he liked and he then presented a true cornucopia of ideas and possibilities. Would this clever and intuitive mind be well served by a repetitive and monotonous position, no matter how well paid with its attendant benefits?
Fantasy
As a small child I remember that as soon as the sun descended, which it did very early in our bleak winter months, everything turned black. Now I do not mean the black that presently covers our cities in the evening: that grayish fuzziness with some blurry illumination in the distance. This was real black, a color devoid of color: a dark hue that was unfathomable to a young boy – perplexing and meaningless. Into this fell the stars, the brilliant stars. The heavens were aglow at night: endless and terrifying, oh but so alluring. One only had to step into our large backyard to be propelled upward into the heavens.
Our Reality
As the rain pelts down and we approach the fall, I always marvel at the magnificence of the natural environment in Taiwan. The Portuguese aptly called our island home Ilha Formosa or “beautiful island.” I have spent some time on the east coast of Taiwan and the experience of the morning mist that often covers the flora and fauna is indelible. I am reminded of the west coast of Vancouver Island, in Canada, where I grew up, and its attendant primordial forest. In our industrialized world, this access to the living world, however, is more and more difficult to achieve on a day-to-day basis. We have become separated from nature to our great disadvantage. I am always slightly discomforted when people kill cockroaches. I am not a vegetarian; but, I believe that all life has value. This creature must be here for a reason. Why kill it when we could redirect its efforts by sealing food containers, and the like, in our home or place of business? Cockroach-like fossils have been dated to at least 300 million years. I like the Occam’s Razor approach. (1) Gaia puts nothing here that is not necessary.
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