The other morning as I trundled to the washroom for my requisite shave and teeth brushing, I thought of the dynamism of life itself. I am often filled with a sense of immense gratitude: it is age I am told. There is only the now, as Eckhart Tolle (b. 1948) tells us. “The more you are focused on time — past and future — the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.” Well, this particular day placed me in front of a mirror at sixty-two. I can totally identify with how Rip Van Winkle (1) felt when he suddenly woke up. “On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes—it was a bright sunny morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze. ‘Surely,’ thought Rip, ‘I have not slept here all night.’”
The comedy of life
I think that each of has a life filled with comedy. We usually miss most of its performance because our day-to-day existence seems to get swallowed up by a pervasive sense of seriousness. When I say comedy, I mean in a classical sense: a series of actions that produce a happy result. (1) I remember some of the more notable comedic occurrences in my own life. Some of the most telling are certainly with growing up, becoming “a man” and courting, or dating, as we now like to say.
The important pieces
If we needed to give it a characterization, we would label it an unintended “conspiracy of silence” (1). This, of course, refers to the discussion of growing up. All secrets are only exposed through experience and not via sham communications. We are not informed of this. We subconsciously paint a fake picture of the future by being given rose-colored classes to wear. (2) Life is a lot like falling in love – you hear a lot about it – but, when you get there, it is totally different. No one tells you about the emotional terror and disorientation that maturity brings. At twenty or so, I am free to be me. What does that truly entail? Falling back some forty years, I recall honestly feeling as if I were drowning. I didn’t know what to do and I was afraid, but I was educated. I am sure that it is the same today.
My personal brand: can it be created?
I was proceeding down an elegant boulevard the other day when my journey was arrested for a moment by a traffic light. As an exercise in mindfulness, (1) I labor to pay attention to my physical environment – the cars, motochas, and bicycles whizzing by are also an intrinsic part of my present world of movement. Once the traffic begins to move, it is as if you are caught up in some enormous wave — a primordial heartbeat. The vehicles all purr in unison and you are off to catch the next stoppage. I admire the occasional renegade who doesn’t wait for the full green but advances with the red still displayed. My ardor was somewhat cooled recently, however, when I saw one of those courageous souls struck by a scooter coming in the opposite direction — also hurrying to “beat the light” – Ouch!
Is violence a human attribute?
We are subjected on a daily basis to violence and violent acts – a bombing here, a murder there, some small wars beginning everywhere, and so it goes. None of it is real, though, to the average person’s reality. We have our Digital Age (1) and its handmaiden the mass media to thank for this perception. The net result is fear. Ask any class of bright-eyed adolescents and they will assure you that we live in heartless and bloodthirsty times.