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 Year 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. That being said, the past must be placed in its own context: it is “the past” and cannot be changed– get over its mistakes and plan for the immediate and for the future: your future. I am a true believer in concretizing images of an exciting, positive nature. It is easy to let the wandering mind project something negative and promulgate it into a fearful and unnecessary memory: an example. Yesterday as I was edging our car into oncoming traffic at a red light, I held out my hand to slow the approaching vehicles. The light turned green and I proceeded into the flow. In the process, however, I did not pay attention to the cars already moving to my right. The mind just assumed that I was part of one continuous movement. One car had stopped, however, and I nearly hit him. This image stayed with me for several days, the aftermath, the complications, the time, the cost: useless thoughts! I must learn to stop negative projections — no fear! This can be extended into life itself. I believe that we must not exist in a continual state of anxiety, but in a state of love: seeking the positive and dynamic experiences to fill each and every day.
The article Stateless Mindset goes further by promoting a complete cleansing of the mind before any new thought or conversion. It suggests that you, literally, enter into a conversation or situation with no antecedents. This is something that is very difficult to do: to be truly clear. “This is what our lives are like. We are constantly holding information, frustrations, ideas, tensions, and needs of a thousand different requests each day. Every email, every call, every text message, every open browser tab, every interaction with another person, every text message … it all builds up in us until we are overloaded. Imagine if you forgot all previous requests. Those interactions died, faded away into the ether. Imagine if there wasn’t the weight of thousands of request and interactions on your mind right now. Imagine they were gone, and you had a blank slate. “What would this blank slate feel like: just this task — just this person — just this action — just this moment?” It certainly is an interesting concept with some limitations, for sure. Please attempt this for a day or so and let us know what you have experienced.
For a bit of lightheartedness and fun, the piece Ragtime, Stride and Dixieland Jazz discusses Ragtime music: its rise and its demise. During its heyday, “Even classical composers like Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky turned our pieces that incorporated the heavy melodic syncopation and march-like ‘ooompah’ beat of ragtime.” The movement’s undisputed icon was Scott Joplin (1867-1917). (1) His death marked the end of one epoch and heralded the entrance of a new period: the age of Jazz music. We should be truly thankful for all innovative music for music is the singing of the soul. The great French novelist and thinker, Victor Hugo (1802-1885), (2) leaves us with a thought: “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” (Parts of this essay were first printed in January 2014)
A closing thought: a new year is always exciting because it portends the unimaginable, the as-of-yet-unthought-of. To this extent, much like new life itself, it is deeply anticipated. This new creation, unfortunately, is sullied far too fast. We quickly fall into prearranged emotions and actions. The effervescent feeling of the New Year must be kept in our heart and in mind every day: in this way, we will lead a truly exhilarating, dynamic and creative new year.
To sum up: This week, we spoke about the New Year and its joys and failures. It is always fresh and stimulating but soon “stumbles into” the same old patterns of the previous year. We must break free from these fetters if we wish to truly mature and to grow.
A philosophical question: Why are some people only kind and thoughtful during the High Holidays and yet true curmudgeons during the rest of the year?
This week on your boisterous walk, please ponder what your New Year will bring: what great adventures or profound resolutions await?
Every day look for something magical and beautiful
Quote: Look for the moments that punctuate your life with joy and grandeur: these act like a figurative “slingshot” to shoot you to even greater heights.
Footnotes
2) Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic Movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. Outside of France, his best-known works, arguably, are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame), 1831.