Life and ideas are like an urn of potpourri filled with dried petals of flowers past. Things bloom, then die, leaving their brief trails of essence. My notebooks are urns filled with short-lived ideas that bloomed but had shallow root. The least I can do is give them honorable mention that they once lived.
We’re Nothing Much.
Of course I don’t mean that literally, just relatively. Consider how many hominids have occupied this planet before we showed up. I wondered, so I did a little research.
The tribal numbering system stopped when Moses passed on. So we can only speculate. The age of Earth is reckoned to be about 4.5 billion years old. According to Carl Sagan, it’s just a “mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam,” hanging out in a Universe that’s estimated to be 13.7 billion years old. That’s perspective.
A lot of weirdness happens here. The Hun is gone, Trump will be, too. But humans keep showing up. Archeology digs suggest that hominids have existed here somewhere between 6-7 million years. After this generation, Vegas will offer no odds on another 6 million years.
Put into perspective, the Earth’s total population is estimated to have been about 107 billion people, past and present. So, let’s close this loop. Go look in the mirror and say to yourself, “Self, who am I?” Then go have a drink and celebrate breath.
The Crab Nebula.
The Crab Nebula is way out there in the universe, so far, in fact, that even light years do a poor job of defining the distance. Some people are like The Crab, virtually obsolete by being detached light years from reality. Some are Republicans, many are Democrats.
Mr. Crab is a supernova of the constellation of Taurus. It’s in the Milky Way, a galaxy that contains our Solar System. I used to think the Milky Way was named for my favorite candy bar by the same name, the finest product of another solar company, Mars Candy. But alas, truth spoiled my felicitous relationship with Milky Way.
Anyway, the Crab is in the constant process of exploding, sending out pulses of radiation of ionized but neutral gas, none of which has any effect on earth. Politicians continue to explode neutral gas that has no effect on anything, either on earth or in the solar system. Can you name one?
Taking Things as They Come.
This is pretty good philosophy. I ran across it one day when browsing around the Habitat for Humanity book store where treasures of wisdom lie buried on the dusty shelves of seldom-read words.
Getting lost occasionally is healthy. Many have been lost for years without recognizing it. I’ve never been lost but often confused. Anyway, for $.25 cents you can find books full of words that have never had eyes laid on them. I feel sorry for such words. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to get them from their brain to a page. And here they lie, languishing silently in hopes of discovery.
I flip open a crinkled, yellowed-page tome that was so mellow it oozed Zen and lulled me into a swoon. It was a Taoist book of philosophy. Intrigued, I read all about The Dao, in Buddhism known as ‘The Way,’ the essence of which I learned to be the importance of ‘effortless action.’
Now this is a concept I can wholeheartedly support, and have done so for years. I bear no grudge against anyone with a contrary life ethic, but just simply ‘acting naturally’ is real freedom, a blessing to some, a curse to others.
It Could Be Worse.
You bet it could, everything can. Anytime. But keeping the right perspective is essential.
Now we’re all having dinner one night and the subject of ‘naked’ comes up. Such subjects have side effects, depending on the number of empty wine bottles scattered around. Tonight the table laughs.
After a few recollections, someone hooks the word ‘mirror’ to ‘naked’ and says, “First thoughts.” Silence is loud sometimes. Then someone pops off, “Hey, it could be worse.”
Now friends, this is an attitude that can look life in the eye and laugh. After all, if life weren’t so serious, it’d be a joke.
**********
My notebook’s full of potpourri yet to air. Maybe these petals will resurrect as candles on the next go-around.
Bud Hearn
August 31, 2018