Tallulah Bankhead suffered from insomnia. It was easier for her to fall asleep if one of her gay friends held her hand. Their contact worked better than drugs.
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Bluesky
BEBINA BUNNY free download here
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The Power of Intention
Sometimes it’s difficult to focus when smoke is blown into our face. Sometimes we are the ones doing the blowing. Sometimes we are distracted from what we need to do because our intentions are not clear.
In the Age of Reconfiguration, I realize that I can accomplish more if I give my day an intention. It helps if the night before I write down what my plans are for the next day–it helps to keep me from being swallowed up by distractions.
The power of intention is that it understands that the shortest distance from one point to another is a straight line.
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Posted in Age of Reconfiguration, Drawings & Paintings
Tagged intention, smoke in the eyes
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Know Thyself
While standing in front of the mirror, who do I see? Sometimes it’s her, sometimes it’s me. This morning “Her” was staring at me. So I said “Boo!” and she said “Boo!”, too. That’s when BOOM! I realized, that she was actually me. Because there are two me’s—the one I use to be and the one I am now. Feeling out of sync, I decided to consult the Priestess Pythia and took a boat to Piraeus where I had a tough time getting a donkey to Delphi.
Over the door of Delphi’s temple was the inscription “Know Thyself”. The line to get in was long but finally I got to meet with Pythia. She was sitting over a crack in a rock moaning and saying nonsensical phrases. Finally she looked at me and said: “Adapt and go on.”
It seemed like too cryptic a response. But the last donkey back to Piraeus was about to leave and there was no time for questions. I had no choice but to leave and reflect on Pythia’s advice.
Riding on a donkey while trying to reflect on existential problems is not an easy thing to do as the bumps are distracting. But, once home, I made a dedicated effort to figure out how to “Adapt and go on.”
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(excerpt from “Cool Breeze, the Age of Reconfiguration” ©)
Posted in Age of Reconfiguration, Drawings & Paintings
Tagged adaptation, Delphi, Know Thyself, Priestess Pythia
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Changes.
One lovely October morning in 1819, I was rubbing tombstones at Campo Cesto when I heard a woman crying. It was Mary Shelly. Her son William had recently died and she, obviously, was overwhelmed. There was nothing I could do to console her save for hug her as she cried. Sharing grief helps the healing process.
Mary had recently published her story about Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s Creature who was so ugly that, after seeing his reflection in a pool of water, he understood why everyone rejected him. The pain filled him with hatred and he went on a killing spree. He even killed Dr. Frankenstein’s wife. Crushed by his wife’s death, Dr. Frankenstein said “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” Of course the change he’d been subjected to was traumatic, extreme and unexpected. But not all change is negative.
Even if it sometimes seems monotonous, life is an unavoidable sequence of constant changes. As with Heraclitus’ panta rhei, from the outside the river seems static. But once you step inside of it, can feel the flow.
Aging is a change. And, like most changes, it requires reconfiguration. Because what once was is not always compatible with what is.
(from Cool Breeze, the Age of Reconfiguration ©)
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Posted in Age of Reconfiguration, Drawings & Paintings, Rome/Italy
Tagged changes, Frankenstein, Mary Shelly, panta rhei, Transition
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Birthday Post.
Today is my birthday. In 14 years, I’ll be 80 years old. The idea of becoming old is something I’ve been reflecting on for some time now. Especially those mornings when I wake up full of aches and pains.
Once I could do 10 things in one day. Now it seems like I need 10 days just to do just one thing. Nevertheless, I continue to overdose myself with projects that I can’t complete. My mental habits are terribly démodé but, as we all know, habits are hard to break.
For years we had a table on our back veranda that we never used. Then we painted it and moved it to the terrace. Now we use it all the time. All it took was a bit of reconfiguration to turn something useless into something useful. And that’s what I need– some mental restyling necessary to make space for the new me. In other words, I need to reconfigure my mental image of how I used to be with that of the way I am now.
I want the last part of my life to be the best part. That’s why I’ve written a manual for myself dedicated to the Age of Reconfiguration. It’s going to be tough as much effort and discipline will be required to keep myself mentally and physically fit. But I can’t wait to start! And will, right after my birthday lunch of truffles and wine!
(from Cool Breeze, the Age of Reconfiguration ©)
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The Narrative Within 