Life Projects

I was thinking a new thought.
Before, I believed that there were things that could be done by someone else if I don’t do them.

Now I see, years later, that there are many things that only I can do.
Not only that, the state of the universe in that moment is special to fit whatever it is I have conceived of. So if I don’t do it, quite possibly it could disappear into the fabrics of time and space, never to come to be.
I was thinking this about research into bird behavior and language, which I wanted to research as a child, but didn’t know I could and neither did anyone else. I wanted to be a bird watcher. Over the years, I have considered it again over and over, but it always seems like something less important than what I could do.

But I see also, now, that if I don’t do it, it will probably never be done, at least not the way I would have. Or what I would have studied.
My genius Grandpa once told me (after having live half a life of debauchery), “La vida no es un juego ni una diversión.” He was nearing his end, and he still wanted to do so much. I feel that way, too, though perhaps not quite as intensely since I’m still pretty young… Life goes by… It’s never long enough. We should do what we can while we can, before it’s too late.

So if you have a dream that you want to come to life, chase it. Don’t let it slip into oblivion. Give it life, breathe your soul into it.

The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months | Books | The Guardian

Perhaps there is truth in the magic of dates. On September 11, 1999 an unimaginable tragedy occurred in New York, as America woke up to the crumbling and enflamed Twin Towers.

On September 11, 1966 on the other hand, a story of warmth and humanity contradicting what has been taught in American High Schools for so long, was happening in Australia. This story reframes humanity and gives hope.

When I was in high school and junior high, almost all of the books we were forced to read were dark accounts of humanity, the evils of society and our world. The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and The Lord of the Flies are titles that everyone recognizes. My fellow students and I all wondered why we were subjected to a deluge of darkness at the dawn of life, and rightly so.

Now I see this wonderful story, the true story of the Lord of the Flies, not written by a bitter drunkard, but by the true history of six boys stranded on a deserted island and how they survived for a year and a half all alone by the goodwill of their hearts, comraderie, and their sheer determination.

I have often thought that literary education stands to change. I believe it is ridiculous that our youth should be subjected to suffer through these books, when much more optimistic ones abound. And clearly, as it is proven here, that dark view of society is simply not the only truth, and certainly not the only one we should be giving our next generation. I call for a cleansing of the shelves, a reevaluation of what is important so that we can envision and create a brighter and more human future.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months

The Tower

I found this postcard lying on the floor today… it became today’s esoteric reading. In this painting by the surrealist Spanish painter Remedios Varo, she captured part of the essence of what I believe is appropriate to the moment.

I think this painting was a twist on the tarot card “The Tower.” In the original image, people jump from a burning tower in terror as their world crumbles around them. It is one of the more dreaded cards in the deck, with a meaning of the death of something or extreme changes. A falling apart of what is known.

This painting is done with he same perspective, but with the tower having crumbled, its pieces strewn upon the earth. A flutist is, with music, magically encouraging their piecing back into place in the tower, pulling the world back together.

The Coronavirus pulled many people out of their towers, where they thought they were safe and had their lives. They suddenly tumbled down, their known existence in shambles, the tower of their lives ruined. But I see many creative people pulling themselves up with a musical force from the heart, communicating about the true necessities of the world and our own lives.

The Tower card of the tarot also symbolizes new beginnings. With the end of something comes the beginning of something new. Thus, in my readings I always bring this point up. The Tower card need not be feared, more it is a call to courage and determination in the face of great change.

This painting by Varo also says that what is needed is creativity and listening to the heart. We can all heal but we need to get creative and listen to what is needed calling from the dark recesses of our silent souls and the silent voice of this beautiful Earth that we live upon. True healing will come when we can face what we truly need to heal: ourselves and our home.