Shock and Awe
Somethings hit harder than you think they will
Yesterday, I read Everyday Junglist who wrote this:
It’s one of those things that can knock the breath out of me. When I titled this “Shock and Awe” and subtitled it “Somethings hit harder than you think they will,” I meant it.
As I thought about this on an early afternoon walk, I made my way to Lost City Books where I asked the young woman on duty if she had a copy of Colin Wilson’s The Outsider which she did! In fact, she had a first printing in hard copy of the 1956 edition, so that was a bonus. If you’re unfamiliar with my fascination with Colin Wilson, it all started here:
As I worked my shift today at Daily Provisions, a friend came in to tell me that another of our friends has died. His partner of many years is distraught, as one might imagine. Not too long ago, I got the news that an 85-year-old friend of mine had lost his 70-year-old wife to brain cancer. Life is a continual series of losses. We cannot avoid the shock of the finality of death, it seems.
Being, as we are, mortal, I hope we are all awake and aware of how precious each moment is that we have together. I have taken to saying that we are all just brief flashes on the surface of eternity. To be awake and aware at all is something that ought to fill us with awe. It should be a peak experience, simply to live on this planet and walk humbly here as we think of how to be good stewards of all life here with us.
This morning, we were talking about how to deal with other people who might annoy us. I have some great tools to use for this and was sharing them. One of them is to realize just how invisible I actually am to most other people. It is HARD to see other people! In fact, I know that I don’t! I just see my projections onto the space that other people occupy. I receive their projections as well. Don Henley said it better than I ever could:
You live in a house of mirrors
Reflecting your splendid isolation
You have so much of everything
Except for true consideration
The way you dance
The way you walk
The way you drive
The way you talk
The way you eat
The way you drink
The way you act
The way that you don’t think
It’s like there’s
Nobody else in the world but you
Nobody else in the world
Nobody else in the world but you
In case you haven’t noticed
There’s lots of other people here, too
Hey now, did your momma teach you anything?
Some things still got to be respected
Is it a sign of the times, or is it just your callous heart?
How did you get so disconnected?
The way you push
The way you shove
The way you hate
The way you love
The lies you spin
The scenes you make
The grief you give
The space you take
It’s like there’s
Nobody else in the world but you
Nobody else in the world
Nobody else in the world but you
In case you haven’t noticed
There’s lots of other people here, too
And now it’s time you did a little giving, baby
The world is not your plaything, no, no, no
(solo)
Nobody else in the world but you
Nobody else in the world
Nobody else in the world but you
In case you haven’t noticed
There’s lots of other people here
Nobody else in the world but you
Nobody else in the world
It’s like there’s nobody else in the world but you
In case you haven’t noticed there are lots of other people here, too
℗ 2000 Iconic DH Masters LLC, under exclusive license to Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.
The thing is, we are all just iterations of “The One” and now I hear this:
It’s like a prayer - and here’s the thing - if one acts as if one’s never had love and wants others to do without as described in these lyrics by U2, well, I am now thinking of another shot that came over my bow as I steamed through the day to which I responded:
The fact that 𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳 invoked “The Golden Apple of Discord” - one of my personal favorite images - and associated it, rightfully, with sexuality leads me to reflecting on that part of my whole self described by Carl Jung as “The Anima.”
My anima is Eris, the Goddess of Discord, Strife, and Chaos. Her work has shaped our history from its origins before the Trojan Wars. She’s a creator as well. Out of the strife of surviving the chaos engendered, we have attained the level of sophistication that we currently reflect. Yes, there is irony there but there is also truth.
Healing is possible, which brings me to this:
Ghost Light was one of those brief flashes on the surface of eternity and this was, to my mind, their pinnacle in many ways. Watch it and you might understand what I am saying. We hurt each other and we do it again. We seek healing but ultimately, isn’t it death that brings us to that moment when we can truly know we have received the gift of a life well-lived.
Even as my heart broke for my friend in Tijuana who lost his first wife - just as it broke for another of my brothers who similarly found his young wife dead at his side in their bed one morning - I’m also convinced that we all need to have that shock come into our lives. I would not be writing here had I not watched my late father breathe his last.
On shift today, several people asked me how I was doing and I said “Still Breathing” - I said the same to a young man who was checking my receipt a short time ago as I was leaving Harris-Teeter and he said “I feel that!” and I believe he meant it. We had a connection; a human connection, as we make our way from dawn to dusk. We ought to be in awe….and we ought to be shocked too. Let’s do all we can to be awake and aware. What else can I tell you? What can you tell me?
Let me hear from you, please, won’t you?
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Life and death à two headed coin balanced precariously on it's edge
Life and death à two headed coin balanced precariously on it's edge