Coming to terms with the Human Condition

The essence of a conversation in the car this morning with Enfant Terrible No. 1 which started from talking about a young woman (26) who has recently lost her father to whom she was very close.

To come to terms with our mortality - which could be called Wisdom - we need to do two things, from my experience:

(1) live in the present - as opposed to religion which usually tries to convince us that there is a future beyond death (meditation is one way to regularly drag yourself back to the present) - this is the best way to make use of the limited time you do have, appreciating and using every moment (which does not mean you need to be constantly active/productive)

(2) decide what you want to do with your time - will you use it for yourself or others? ultimately it is most satisfying to do the latter.

Delight quote

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.

W. Somerset Maugham

2013

No resolution(s) this year - just a focus
on Service
in broad terms
and in the context of relationships

‘His service is perfect freedom’ (from the Book of Common Prayer)
"O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom;"
 ‘Whom to serve is perfect freedom’ (St Augustine)

But I don't mean this in this kind of religious sense - I'm thinking in a more Human or Humanist sense.

Silence is a Rhythm too

Life = A Symphony, made up of rhythms and punctuated with sounds

Terminated

Notes for a movie by Albert Camus & James Cameron





We are biological machines programmed only to survive.


We are born condemned to death.


To survive we must not take that ludicrous condition lying down.


We must rebel against it with kindness (as in 'mankind').


We need to learn to live in the present to maximise our own happiness.


That happiness must be available to the whole of our kind as a context for our individual happiness.

Reflections on the Fundamentals of Life

These notes stem from Jonathan Raban's 'Coasting' and Julian Temple's forthcoming 'The Future is Unwritten' about Joe Strummer.

'Coasting' first made me reflect on what are the essentials of life as Raban sailed around the coast of Britain in a pretty basic vessel, focusing the mind on those essentials.

There's a theme of campfires in the Strummer film I saw last night - communal fire as the hub of happiness and music.

AIR

WATER
FOOD

SLEEP

Dark
Light

LIGHT
WARMTH

Fire

Shelter
Clothing

Waste
Hygiene

SEX - Reproduction
Company
Community

LOVE - as child
LOVE - as parent

Milk Love
Honey Love (love of life) [Erich Fromm]

Individual
Family
Kind

Learning/Education

Survival
Growth
Control?

Environment

Work
ART
Creativity
Self-expression

Justice



[This is a work in progress ]