Morning Thoughts

When nothing emerges, putting fingers to keyboard tends to work

In hopes of having something to relate, I’m sitting down for a while and looking at the expanse of white on the screen being populated with this set of characters. It’s good just to write and to tell oneSelf what one is doing. Why is one doing it? I suppose the best way to look at it is as a kind of immortality project. If I cast a few characters into cyberspace, I have made a mark.

The work being done today is just this; I’m filtering my experiences of being in the world with all of you who are able to read or listen to what I have written. There are a variety of subjects vying for attention. One of these is wondering if something were to happen to me, how would anyone be able to parse the contents of the bunker and get them out to whoever might value them? It’s a big project. It occurs to me that I might have an issue with materialism!

Of course, I rationalize it that everything I have is part of a special kind of archive. Recognizing it as rationalization doesn’t do much to address the issue. Still, it feels cozy and keeps others at a distance. Now, I’m probably not presenting my best side.

Of one thing I am certain, I am much more tired than I can remember being after Drummers Call 2026. It started with driving over four hours to get there, doing a march from the Palace down to the Capitol to draw a crowd for the “Successful Campaign” presentation by the Senior and a guest corps. If you haven’t experienced fifing and drumming, here is the field performance of my group. I stood down to balance the ranks but made good use of the time:

For the first time, I felt that I have less of a connection to this group than I have in the past; like my participation in the future may not be guaranteed. It’s probably just a feeling driven by visiting my mother and getting the impression that she’s starting not to recognize me. There’s nothing much I can do for her from here. At least my sister is down there and, although I don’t get much information flowing back to me from her, I know that she has ultimate responsibility for Mom’s care.

What I’m spilling out from the fingertips isn’t all that compelling, I find. However, why must someone always have to be compelling?

One thing that I have found really sparking my imagination is dialogue. Talking with. and listening to, are skills that I know I need to cultivate. Here’s a recent conversation with Everyday Junglist:

We can’t really learn well unless we learn to listen. I see this in the macrocosm and the microcosm. From my perch behind the register at Daily Provisions since March 21, I get a good look at a fairly extensive cross-section of society. I see how little we see each other; how attention is so narrow a beam; so much goes unseen.

Reflecting on the reality of the unseen, I think to myself what a vast cosmos! We are so privileged to be here at all - these eukaryotic multi-cellular beings we are - collectives of so many species - and yet we feel this sense of being “one” among many. It appears this way from my limited and distorted perspective. I could be wrong and therefore must suspend judgment so long as possible. It must be admitted, however, that judgement follows quickly when I presented information. I just have to remain open to changing my views as more information is presented in tme…and always remember, “I could be wrong.”

As most of you are by now aware, I’m mashing my practice up from a number of different sources. Here on Substack these include:

Michael Chabon who writes Tragic Magic

ROBERT FRIPP who has recently joined Substack in earnest as he completed his 80th spin around the sun.

Patti Smith who’s openness with her subscribers has encouraged my own style of shooting the passing show.

Jesse Paris Smith who has shown the kindness of attention to her many subscribers. Above and beyond what can be expected out here on cyberspace.

𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳 who keeps me immersed in Esoteric Thought. A fellow theosophist, Mitch is an accomplished article and often appears on “The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd” where he is one of the experts consulted on stories of the paranormal.

The list goes on but these are some of the prime authors that I read and there are many reasons for it. One is that without a practice, life is pretty much just a series of contingent events or just sleeping through it all - this is a rough paraphrase of Robert Fripp’s statement that graces the inner front flap of “The Guitar Circle” which I acquired on attending a talking tour that year which presaged “In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50” coming out.

All of this led me to looking up relativsim. I believe that a strong case could be made for my living in a state of “relativism” with all of my constant reminding mySelf that my perceptions are limited and distorted based on the measurement apparati with which I have been endowed.

In short, it is hard for me to hold ANY truths to be self-evident. It all depends on one’s perspective liberally mixed with one’s past impressions - whether factual or fictional.

How can anything perceived but be fictional? We make up stories about what we perceive but they are our own constructions and different people, therefore, see different worlds. How can we possibly avoid making many mistakes as we make our way from cradle to grave? How, as we spin around the sun from dawn to dusk and back again, can we be good ancestors? When are we going to recognize the fact that we, collectively, are the stewards of those who went on before and we currently have that power entrusted to us?

We must begin to move beyond our myopic focus on our own species,dependent as it is on so many others to remain! We must focus on how our actions impact all other species on the planet and that maintaining life requires us to focus our energies and use our technologies for the benefit of all species.

I believe that the best way to achieve that goal is by the judicial application of the technologies at our fingertips while focusing on that goal of “How will the application of our technology benefit all life!”

My researches have found the Buckminter Fuller Institute to be among the furthest along on this path. I’m convinced with some willingness, we could improve this planet a great deal for those who come after. I see how my ancestors have done all they could to prepare the way, but a few things are out of kilter. Applying our technology to fixing these isn’t outside of the realm of possibility. It just takes vision, willingness, and, above all, ACTION!

I always come back to this:

and:

As many regular readers of Harrowings will already know, I am enamoured with the idea of Nothing being the foundation upon which Everything rests. Here above, Pete has put it plainly that “Nothing IS Everything” - but the real message is “Let’s See Action.” My action is to be here now writing in the Bunker, listening at the moment to a performance by the Grateful Dead from April 20, 1984 at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Civic Center. I’d hitch-hike from Ashland, VA down to Charlotte, NC on October 5 that year to see my first of two Grateful Dead shows. They were both outstanding in their way. I wouldn’t hop back “on the bus” for another 30 years, but have made up for lost time. My collection of Grateful Dead recordings is missing far fewer of the available recordings than are currently in my possession. I got rather “completest” with this material a few years ago.

The odd thing about listening on CD is that these too are being dematerialized. We stream now. The technology trends are toward a disappearance into the very small. “Material less, spiritual more,” an old friend used to intone as we trekked across the streets of Pittsburgh from one AA meeting to another. It’s still something that one can do. I have been thinking again. It’s become quite an addiction, thinking is. It does lead one to being inactive, however. Action matters. Thoughts, feelings, and beliefs may engender actions once the action potential is overcome, but, essentially, it is our actions that reshape the world we perceive.

More often than not, I fear, actions are happening without forethought. Much happens automatically. Automation has long been our goal in industry to make things more effective and efficient. Between the last . and this sentence, I returned a missed call from my mother. She needs a new watch, so within minutes, I have moved a few symbols upon which we recognize that something of value has been sent to move a small piece of mechanical contrivance to my mother from wherever it is right now. Should be there in two days. Ripple effects ensue in the economy. She’s getting a Peugeot watch. I know very little about the company. Such is the nature of “homo economicus” - every move he or she or it or they make, ripple effects emanate.

A few days ago, I wrote:

Looking Back while Inching Forward

If there is any point to this bit of writing, it is that the practice of looking backward over my inventory - both psychic and physical - is necessary as I make sense of my current situation and inch my way into the future. I have a recurring dream in which I am attempting to drive a car whose controls are difficult to reach and use and whose windshield is blacked out. One can navigate only by looking back in the side and rearview mirrors at the immediate past to tell whether or not one was on the road and make decisions on how to stay on the road whose oncoming cannot be seen. Invariably, it was clear that an accident was bound to happen. Braking would not work.

I think that this is pretty clearly indicative of the human condition. We are always falling forward into the future without much guarantee that it will be dependent on the evidence of the past. Novelty appears to be the rule rather than the exception.

This leads me to this short explanation of Terrence McKenna’s idea “Novelty Theory”

Largely debunked as “pseudopscience”, Novelty Theory is at least hopeful and entertaining. The idea is that we need to awaken to what the transformation of our planet is leading. My imagination foresees Beneficial Artificial Super Intelligence emerging as an assistant to us. That’s what my novella is all about:

It’s embedded in the mourning thoughts that came up last week. Life is a continual series of losses, after all. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It simply is. We are cyclical.

As I continue, I’m apt to make some discoveries. For now, I’ll keep harrowing the field of imagination to see what turns up. Last May 12, it was this:

….and I’ve done some writing on more recently:

It’s generally necessary to put one foot in front of the other to make progress. This is what I’m doing today. Stringing together a bit of the philosophical underpinnings of Harrowings, I’m attempting to point a way forward.

Again, I am casting my eyes backwards for times when I have made similar statements:

We must start thinking holistically about the impact of our actions. They matter. They matter more now than at any point in history. How’s it going to turn out? What part do my actions play in how history unfolds? How do yours? Who doesn’t make an impact, for better or worse? How might we do better, faster, and cheaper good than ever before?

I hope we are asking ourselves such questions. Morning has moved into afternoon, so it may be time to stop thinking through the fingertips and get into other actions. What do you plan to do to be a good ancestor?

Onward!

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