• “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”
  • About me
  • About this blog & Awards received
  • Copyright notice

moderndayruth

~ Tarot inspired essays and more

moderndayruth

Tag Archives: Arts

my rant on punctuation

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by moderndayruth in Humor

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

Arts, English language, Exclamation mark, Full stop, Greeks, Hervé Bazin, Punctuation, Question mark

A laughing smiley in an exclamation point.

A laughing smiley in an exclamation point. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I mean, really…  Some people have written whole novels without using any! And this exclamation marks too – literate folks avoid them as a plague, they say using one is like tapping yourself on the shoulder. My favorite – semicolon – has been frowned upon as the symbol of ultimate snobbery and merely a show off that you did some college. Right. It’s common knowledge that what’s in brackets – you can skip writing all together, if you in your capacity of the author consider it less important than the rest of the text – stigmatizing it by the shameful brackets – i bet you that in this rushing ADD era (as much as i am convicted that it’s a non-existent disorder) your readers won’t bother to dwell on it. Not even for a second.

By now, you might have noticed that i adore ending my sentences with ellipsis… But, how many of those one can use in a paragraph, without crossing the line? And what to use instead? The ellipses sort of denote that you haven’t said your last word on the matter AND that, as a presumably intelligent person, you retain your right to think of something else later on  OR to add something all together very different… With FULL STOP, you don’t stand a chance.  That’s it, you pronounced yourself, you made the statement, no room for improvements or latter reflections PERIOD.

Blame it on the Greeks, ’twas Aristophanes of Byzantium who came up with full stop’s first form – it was he , who invented  single dots to separate the verses… AND it was so long ago – 3 centuries BC – that i doubt we can do anything to reverse the tragic effect of the invention on contemporary stream of consciousness writing. There, i said it! (The former exclamation mark is me high-fiving myself as it’s for a while now that i hold a grudge against renown Greek scholar AND i do feel better now that i took off my chest!)

Kudos for Chinese who only recently, in 20th century, succumbed to this devastating Western influence and who, for the best part of their written history, in poetry and traditional calligraphy, did not use any punctuation!

Hervé Bazin, French writer, known for his topics of teenage rebellion and dysfunctional families, in an essay from 1966 –  Plumons l’Oiseau (“Let’s pluck the bird”) – proposed six new punctuation marks:

  • the “love point” (point d’amour: Point d'amour.svg)
  • the “certitude point” (point de conviction: Point de certitude.svg)
  • the “authority point” (point d’autorité: Point d'autorité.svg)
  • the “acclamation point” (point d’acclamation: Point d'acclamation.svg)
  • the “doubt point” (point de doute: Point de doute.svg)

There were other more than cool suggestions, like:

Superellipses . o 0  – to indicate a dramatic pause (source: halfblog.net )

The Sinceroid – when you want to be REALLY HONEST, as in: Oh, wow! Thank you! This sweater is just what i wanted .

Not to forget interrobang ‽ which presumably denotes excited disbelief and saves you the time that you’d normally use to type down a question mark and an exclamation point… In the course of several life times, the saved time could easily climb up to as much as five minutes ?! 

The bastion of English language – The Oxford Dictionary – added ♥ as the first symbol ever to grace its pages; mind you, spokesperson clarified, “While symbols do become spelt-out words relatively frequently, it is usually only with a mundane meaning as the name of the symbol… It’s very unusual for it to happen in such an evocative and tangential way.”

(Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/03/25/the-oxford-english-dictionary-adds-3-and-lol-as-words/#ixzz2QFNZJMVv )

Personally, i am all for including (introduced by John Wallis in 1655) infinity sign to the most common written languages – firstly because i don’t believe in any other, but self-imposed limits and, secondly, because it would be quite handy when, for example, you don’t know how to end an essay  ∞

 

 

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

how NOT to get freshly pressed, EVER

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by moderndayruth in Humor, Tarot

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Arts, Blog, Mary K. Greer, Russia, Tarot, Word Press, WordPress, Writers Resources

Right, it’s as if we aren’t sick of ‘keeping up with the Jones’ outside Word Press, we have this FP thing pushed on us… I must admit i do like most of the entries that do get FPed, but of all the blogs i follow and adore, only Dianne Gray and Rian got FP-ed. Mind you, both are unconventional thinkers with genius writing stile,  besides, Dianne is a pro writer who had been published (and popular) long before the Word Press craze, so no surprise there.

What does surprise me is the plethora of excellent and popular blogs that in my year or so on WP got zero promotion. Not to brag, but I am a pro writer myself, involved with all kinds of professional writers’ international activities and even happen to be the president of the national jury for EU prize for literature, so i don’t doubt all that much my own taste in writings; being a doctoral student at one of the world’s top ranked Universities  specialized in linguistics, i have some confidence in my intellectual discernment too, and i did wonder for quite a while how come the stuff i love doesn’t get any special attention… Ever.

I went through the list of topics i search regularly:

Chinese Philosophy
Daoism
I Ching
Judaism
Russia
Zen

It’s not that i am looking for something socially unacceptable and on the edge of the good taste, right?

Check out those searches for yourself, there are absolute pearls among them – and by academically recognized authorities too (honestly, those are indeed quite sub-specialized, so very few non-experts discuss them publicly.)

The thing is that we have genius Bonnie Cehovet here on Word Press, a published writer, author of remarkable micro fiction and an independent books and Tarot decks reviewer. ‘Independent’ means you can trust her opinion because she’s reviewing stuff she chooses on a pro bono basis, so there is no way you could invest into a wrong, yet expensive collector’s item because she was paid to promote it; if only for that her work deserves all the praise – let alone that her own taste and, thus, recommendations are indeed exquisite.

Mary K. Greer, worldwide known author and scholar, one of the most respected contemporary experts on the philosophy and history of the occult is blogging on Word Press too.

Among us is Lisa Frideborg Lloyd, famed mystic and Tarot educator.

Amazing Thalassa Therese joined WP recently – she’s the producer of the oldest established Tarot Symposium in the world, founder of the Daughters of Divination, and founder/CEO of Beating the Boundaries Life Strategies and Transformative Arts.

I must tell you all of them are stars with international following and have quite an impact on big group of population with certain buying power. Have I mentioned that all of those blogs are amazingly entertaining and educative too?

One of the coolest and most informative blogs on collections and collecting  is that of the famed Le Fanu – My Curious Cabinet; author’s writing style and keen observances on life in a ‘far off land’ would certainly be of interest to a wider following.

Yet, we fall in the uncategorizable category of a sub-culture and while the hard working and smart peeps behind FP selection will risk here and there to promote a post on anorexia or bipolar depression, rest assured they won’t go that far so to press any of us. And it’s absolutely fine, what’s socially acceptable changes every fifty years or so, where as those of us who are into the “obscure” occult disciplines have been around ever since the dawn of the humanity and by now we developed powerful surviving skills, like any other guerrilla does.

I’ve written before on subcultures in Skinny Bitches & Russian Ballerinas and, to be honest, i’d be utterly desperate if we suddenly became mainstream, so take this for what it is – not a rant, merely a stream of thought.

Other than that, there is this amazing blog on Russia – let alone all the ‘world’s being your oyster’ of the internet – there are still very few great blogs about Russia in English and From Russia With Love is definitely one of them.

It’s not that there are too many famous public personalities from Armenia writing in English – yet Arlen is around and at his blog you can read (among else) rare stuff on this exotic country, which is hardly available anywhere else.

That being said, mine too happens to be the only Word Press blog in English where you can read genuine stuff on Montenegro, another far off country on which culture and traditions still little is known.

And here is something else i thought of. Rian of Truth and Cake came up with the genius idea to Freshly Press yourself, hope she won’t mind mine borrowing it (ehem, well, snatching would make a more appropriate wording, but anyway ;))

So, let’s do it here as well, if you feel so inclined:

1. Pick one of your posts you take pride in;

2. Link to it in the comments section below, while adding couple of words on the content;

3. If you choose to do so – promise you’ll check out and comment on at least one entry by another blogger who linked to their respective post too. There is no FP police involved at this time, but karma is … well, mean, so make sure you do it ))

4. Comment directly on their blog and, please, don’t spam.

Have fun!

snatched from http://tfunworld.wordpress.com

snatched from http://tfunworld.wordpress.com

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Seducing The Demons & Blogging For Peace

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by moderndayruth in I Ching, Photography

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Arts, Author, B4Peace, Book of Changes, Chinese classics, David Albahari, Dianne Gray, Erika Jong, everyday gurus, Henry Miller, I Ching, publish, Thomas Cleary, Word, writer resources, Writing, Yang, Yin Yang

 

 

Dianne Gray is one of my personal favorites – both authors and bloggers, and one of the people who restores my faith not only in writing, but in the humanity itself.

It’s true that there is a lot of stuff online that wouldn’t get published otherwise – but it’s true also that there are those of us who are simply looking for new ways to interact with the readers, who grew tired of the traditional publishing… It’s a common knowledge that publishing has become a business like any other – it’s about sales and profit mostly, what gets published at the end of things is that which sells and there is always the dreaded intermediary between the author and the reader… The choices and tastes of the majority dictate the selection of titles to be published, and with books that’s bad, really bad.

As much as Erika Jong is controversial herself – and as much as everyone is fed up with her Isadora Wing, she is right at least about one thing: “What we all live for . . . is what Henry Miller calls ‘the dictation.’ That’s when the words take off on a frolic of their own, when you don’t seem to be writing or thinking but rather taking down some divine dictation.” (Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life; Tarcher, 2006)

Not a popular opinion, definitely not a democratic one – but political correctness has little to do with writing as a process. Almost anyone can become a solid author – if they invest the proverbial 10 000 hours into studying of the master plots, expanding the vocabulary and meticulous research; also, there is the 99% of perspiration thing…  But it’s the remaining 1% which makes an author great, a classic if you wish – and that 1% is in the domain of inspiration, of magic, of other worlds, of that which by its nature is beyond verbalization. This world was created by a word, remember?

So, as much as many would like to make the process seem 100% of this world, easily attainable and subject to fixed rules… It is not – at least not at the threshold where a solid writing becomes a great one, like Dianne’s is.

Words are tamed, you see – they are like living energies which need to be captured, domesticated and trained… Given plenty of luck, much love and endless patience, one eventually succeeds, but it always comes at a price.

Check out Dianne’s latest blog entry – and you’ll feel for yourself what i am talking about, whatever she writes about – you can literally feel her words lining up and whirling , like dervishes dancing their way into the ecstatic transcendence… I bet that by now it does come easy to her, but gaining a mastery of that level… Ask a dervish what it takes, to whirl effortlessly like that. As great Rumi puts it: ” A secret turning in us makes the universe turn… “

As it turns – it touches others and ignites in them the desire to start whirling along. we can make a difference – each and everyone of us – and Kozo of everydaygurus describes how to do so – step by step. It’s true – every post, every single word, every act of kindness do count.

That being said – my own I Ching reading on the year ahead is very much in sync with this peaceful tune; the casting i did on January 1st gave me the following hexagrams:

I Ching Holitzka

I Ching Holitzka

As a side note: i use Klaus Holitzka cards, a gift from a dear friend, for meditation; the casting itself is done traditionally, with coins and David Albahari’s edition of the Book of Changes – probably the best source available in ex Yugoslav languages.

Hexagram 06 Sòng changing to 33 Dún

Hexagram 06 Sòng changing to 33 Dún

 

meditation setting on hexagram 33 Retreat

So, what does it take to avoid the strife of Hexagram 6 and attain peace described in Hexagram 33?

In hexagram 5, Darkness, danger is present, yet still avoidable; in following it Conflict – the balance of Yin and Yang is lost and strife is imminent. “Only great sages can change their temperaments, while lesser people are bound by their temperaments; when they are run afoul of, the poison in their negative side acts, and they get excited – they contest for victory, eager for power, they plot and scheme to deprive others and benefit themselves. All such things that deviate from harmony and lose balance – arguments, battles of wit, issues of right and wrong, are called contention” says Thomas Cleary’s translation of Liu I Ming’s commentary of the Chinese classic. (The Taoist I ching; Yiming Liu, Thomas F. Cleary – Body, Mind & Spirit 1986)

A sage shall erase wile and  impetuosity while remaining strong inwardly, but not “outwardly aggressive”, then albeit there still might be danger present in the environment – her heart shall be free of danger of “clamor of the realm of right and wrong.”

‘Tis that “simple”… But, hey, i have plenty of time – a whole year – to get there! Taming my own demons through writing has proved to be one of the best tools for me to achieve the proverbial inner peace – and by doing so, hopefully, to infuse the surroundings with the calm it needs.

b4peace

Related articles
  • Monthly Peace Challenge: Acts of Kindness (everydaygurus.com)
0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Tarot Mysteries, Moscow’s Pubs & The Art of Life

01 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay, Photography

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Arts, Booze Bub Moscow, Education, Kabbalistic Teshuva, Leo Babauta, Philosophy, Tarot The Fool, Thelema, Zen Habits

art_of_life_0

In Kabbalah we speak of ” Teshuva”, which does not mean repentance, as it usually goes translated; instead – it means going back to one’s true self; in Christian Bible it’s said “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2); Crowley speaks of doing ‘as thou wilt’ as the main   law of the system of believe he founded, Thelema… You’ll find it everywhere, in every single reputable religion and school of thought, but “being who you are” might seem easier than it is.

Albeit many of us, i guess, would like to escape the rat race – that’s close to impossible because even within the most liberal and unconventional of the professions – there are strict codes for just about anything. At the time i used to hang out mostly with DJs, non-commercial writers and directors of independent movies; the thing is that all of them were successful in their respective fields  – and the rules for success are oddly the same, never mind is it a career in finances or in liberal arts; there are strict dressings codes even among the most casually dressed artists; there are linguistic etiquettes and dozens of other (un)written rules one should master – in any given field.

Often it’s said that if we choose what we’d like to do – most would turn into overeating couch potatoes… Not so. Whomever i met in life who mastered the art of going with the flow (they are few i must say), long ago was done with watching reality TV and pigging out on junk food; somehow, as we search for the ways to unshool our minds, the latter becomes so picky that most of the trivial activities become out of  question by default.

That being said – Lin Ai Wei has posted recently a great essay on what going with the flow is Not; something he wrote there i find to be of fundamental value:

“When one follows the flow of things, they are just followers. They have a desire, they go with it. They have a thought, and they revel in it for hours. Someone yells at them, and they take it either to yell back, or walk away indifferent. Following the flow of things is simply just planting causes and reaping the outcomes. It is quite ordinary, and people do it without realizing it. It is nothing special.

The only difference between someone who follows the flow of things and one who is of high wisdom, a Sage, is that the Sage doesn’t look to the outcomes; the Sage is more concerned with the causes. The Sage thus creates the flow consciously, wisely.”

That being said, I’ve noticed lately that many use two antonymous words – elitism and snobbery – interchangeably, where as the latter actually excludes the former; one of the possible etymologies of the noun snob is its being rooted in the abbreviated form of the Latin  sine nobilitate – ‘without nobility‘; by the early 19th century snob was firmly established as the word for the vulgar social climbers of humble background who copied the manners of the upper classes. (See: Oxford Dictionaries.)

An elite is defined in plethora of ways as well – by its wealth, power, talent and whatnot; in Montenegro usually if one is referred to as such it means (at least) two preceding generations in their family had higher education – and that’s the definition closest to my own understanding; anyhow – being elitist by default excludes copycatting; an elite sets the standards in any given filed, while snobs merely follow  without giving it all much of a thought. But, i digress.

I know many say – it is possible if you are child-free; not so – Leo Babauta does it, albeit it’s a challenge to the norms and nevertheless he has a big family, or, better to say, his kids are one of the main reasons he is doing it.

For myself, long ago i came to the realization that – couple of enlightened gurus aside- we, as a kind, are playing roles like actors do (albeit most make the choice unconsciously), as the time goes by we identify with the characters we impersonate – and then pretty much the whole script is quite predictable, it becomes one of the so-called “master plots” which number is, according to some, narrowed down to merely twenty… And while hardly anyone wants to be a part of a B-rated movie – metaphorically speaking, to become a director of one’s own independent movie does take guts – and skill too.

Language  – that wonderful human peculiarity that distinguishes us as a kind – can be one’s captor or one’s liberator, depending on its use; we are served on a daily basis ready made verbal cliches, by the teen age one is already equipped with all the phrases they might ever need in each and every situation they would encounter in life – sad or happy – and even for the unpredictable and surprising ones.

Long story made short – we are given preexisting patterns of speech which further condition our behavior – in addition to the infamous socialization  which in all societies basically means adjusting the masses to the needs of the ruling class(es); the easiest way to go on is to adapt to the existing rules and norms, while the only way to achieve true fulfillment is always found within the realm of one’s individuality and far from anything conventional and widespread.

The thing is that once we are outside the known and commonly accepted – there are no maps and charts and we can rely only on our own intuition (presumably judgement as such was left behind together with the conventional thinking – novelty is always beyond the logic and pre-existing experiences.)

Where will this road less traveled take us – nobody knows, the thing is that we will be fulfilled spiritually and not in any kind of lack – as long as we stick to it and don’t succumb to the usual ‘shoulds and musts.’

Nothing is a must, not a thing.

I get it theoretically too, but the practice takes daily effort. As soon as i wake up, i have obsessive thoughts about what i must accomplish during the day – and at what time; for me – it’s the meditation that enables me to prioritize among the countless tasks i schedule daily.

Unlike Leo Babauta, i can’t say i am goalless; i do have pretty clear goals in life – i am fully aware where i like to spend my time, what activities have the best chance of truly fulfilling me and with what kind of people i am happy with, the thing is that mine is not fixed, i rather navigate towards those non-goals without obsessing too much about anything and by leaving a good part of it to the Universe and its mysterious ways.

Here are some shots of my not-so-goalless wanderings through the city of Moscow and an illustration i fancy; in Tarot spontaneity is synonymous with The Fool which some list as the first Major Arcanum – and some, like me, as the last major mystery in the sequence of the 22 Tarot Trumps.

With Elena at my favorite Moscow’s pub – Booze Bub:

100_5505

 

Many agree with me that it’s actually the bast pub in the city – and you can read some of the amazing reviews at this absolutely cool WordPress blog on Russia.

These are some more pics of “ Cheers, just without Woody Harrelson” and of the best bartender on this side of the Pacific, an American in Moscow, a polymath and a friend of mine – Pete Cato.

100_5503

 

100_5508

 

100_5511

 

 

Copyright notice: Art of Life Tarot was created by Charlene Livingstone who  taught Art for over 25 years and currently works as a guide at the Art Gallery of Ontario; cards feature well-known works of art paired with inspiring quotations; the deck was published by U.S. Games Systems Inc. in 2012; All Rights Reserved.

Related articles
  • A Journey Without a Goal (moderndayruth.net)
0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

An Undemanding Illusion Of Belonging

04 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Poetry

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Arts, Desert, desert mirage, illusion of belonging, Red Square in Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery

A hidden opening in gloomy reality,

a dreamy narrow passage

leading away from

unwanted lives

overcrowded by ghosts of failed relationships,

is that what we are to each other?

Could it be that ours is merely

an undemanding illusion of belonging?

 And i wonder why am i scared

to loosen the desperate grip

and let go this desert mirage

made of things that will never be.

 

Red Square in Moscow
Fedor Yakovlevich Alekseev (1753–1824)
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Copyright notice:the image is in public domain because its copyright expired.

 

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

When all else fails, tell a story…

13 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Photography

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Arts, Byzantine Empire, Gogol, Literature, Montenegro, Nikolai Gogol, Overcoat, Russia

It’s been said that we all grew out of Gogol’s Overcoat … To me personally, his is one of the very few that always fit- regardless of times and the weather and regardless of everything else. That’s what great literature, classical literature is about – it is universal, it is timeless and you can see yourself wearing their shoes, or better to say – their overcoats – no matter where  and when you jump into the written world of a genius writer.

Even Nabokov, a genius in his own right, albeit an infamously opinionated and big mouthed one – had the following to say on Gogol: “Steady Pushkin, matter-of-fact Tolstoy, restrained Chekhov have all had their moments of irrational insight which simultaneously blurred the sentence and disclosed a secret meaning worth the sudden focal shift. But with Gogol this shifting is the very basis of his art, so that whenever he tried to write in the round hand of literary tradition and to treat rational ideas in a logical way, he lost all trace of talent. When, as in the immortal The Overcoat, he really let himself go and pottered on the brink of his private abyss, he became the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced.”

Back in 2003, Montenegrin government saw the going getting tough and had decided, for the first time in history, to school its own diplomats. You see, Montenegro is one of the oldest countries in Europe – Principality Doclea, the great-grand mother of Montenegro, was formed in 9th century; it shall have a turbulent personal history, like many outstandingly beautiful and rebellious princesses did … In 1042 it shall run away from what once was considered her home – the mighty Byzantine empire, in 1421, it shall get kidnapped by a Serbian Despotate; princess by birthright would renounce its nobility by joining the working class family of Yugoslav people and shall remain quite happy in its new home, as long as her inborn sense of human dignity was not jeopardized and her honorable name brought down to dirt. That’s when the princess decided it was the high time she hit the road and became a sovereign queen.

But there laid the trap – see, every crowned Queen needs its court and ladies in waiting, yet those whose vocation it was – had seemingly forgotten what it means to serve the Queen.

Thus, in 2003., Diplomatic Academy Gavro Vukovic was formed and the very first class of diplomats was schooled on its own ground, on our own land, trained to fight for its interests and its honor. (To keep the peace at home and make my father happy, i must add that his side of family is related to Duke Gavro Vukovic, albeit – tiny nation that we are – most of us are related anyway. ;)) There are many reputable Diplomatic Academies in the world – and we used to school our diplomats there;  the “output” we would get back would be cosmopolitan and classy, yet quite disconnected from its roots and even reluctant to acknowledge those.

Thus, in 2003, 48 of us sat in benches and listened to yet another re-telling of the Overcoat , this time by professor Dragan Vukcevic, PhD.

Dean Vukcevic told us his version of the story, where it was about the tailor who sewed his own overcoat… With time it got worn out, and became – a jacket. Years later, the material which could be used had become sufficient merely for a cap… Until one day, only a button of the original overcoat remained.

Dean Vukcevic had handed us this metaphorical button and had make us swear that we will recreate the original overcoat from it… that’s what we’ve been working on, ever since.

In 2006., Montenegro has regained its independence, we are working on restoring the little details nowadays – as the overcoat indeed has been sewed again, sleeves attached to it and even the fancy collar added.

Here are some pictures of the magical Queen, for you:

Photo Copyright ©Lena Ruth Stefanovic, 2012, All Rights Reserved

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

To Hell With Common Sense

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Arts, Common (entertainer), Common sense, History, Imaginary friend, Kabbalah, Literature, Obama, Philippe Halsman, Philosophy, Real life

The Dali Atomicus, photo by Philippe Halsman (...

           Funny that while we were  raised under premise that it’s ‘inside that counts’ and given that most of the wars throughout written history were fought because of “imaginary friends”; nowadays it seems everyone is going to great lengths to persuade us that “real life” rocks and that your facebook friends and online romances are non-existent… Well, not really.

         Common sense is called common not because it will make one a torchbearer of the humanity and avant-garde – it will indeed keep you ‘common’ and it’s merely a know how for the masses – prone to entropy by definition – a working knowledge and a manual to navigate the uncommon territories of this rushing century… Those who are running in front of the rest of us and moving the time itself as they go, as they run –  they are never common and it’s us, who shclep behind them who need the “common sense” to explain to ourselves what the hell has just happened?!

        Just look at the history of science – or of the very religion, or fashion, and of course – the development of the technology; it’s always the unexpected, carried out by the most unusual folks, that constitutes the progress of the humanity; the rest is wallowing in the entropy of the common sense… Sense can’t be common, you see – because to be sound one has to think for themselves; what we can pick up from our surroundings and what we do get via socialization – is the working knowledge of life, how to adapt to the existing – and not how to create the new.

        It irks me when i read some self-righteous blockhead telling everyone their feelings are not real… Oh, really? It’s as if i know in person and went hiking or something with Clintons and Obamas, who did shape my actual life; it’s as if i know in person all the chemists and engineers who invented stuff that i now use in daily life… Neither have i met philosophers from the past, nor the classical writers – yet all of these folks together have shaped my life and made it what it is.

        I don’t get it where this obsession with the physical started –  we were thought it’s the spirit, you know, that makes the world go round… Now suddenly the rabbis are railing and psychologists are outdoing themselves to persuade you that what you get online is an illusion, while it’s the “real life” that counts… Sure, the “real life” – which at it’s core is equally fictional – only custom tailored according to the needs of governments, clergy and industrial lobbies.

         That would be my main rant of the day – i won’t even link to countless mediocre articles that sing praises to the “real life” vs online experience, it’s a waste of time – more so that these people would never get published, wasn’t it for www; it’s this very media – which they fail to appreciate – that gave them the possibility to voice their worn out ideas , in “real life” it takes much more than that to get published.

        By now you know i am for ever enchanted by Kabbalah – and i admire kabbalists for their use of internet too – i’ve never heard a kabbalist ranting against it; as they try to see the light in everything – they decided internet is a great opportunity to spread wisdom and started working hard; the result of it is that nowadays you get online for free knowledge and tools that only 50 or 70 years ago were  available only to the chosen few.

           In real life, personally, i interact with very few people on a regular bases – maybe it’s just the way i am wired, but i really don’t feel the need to spend extended periods of time in someone’s physical presence, in order to relate to them; i do have wonderful  neighbors and friends whom i know all my life, not to forget my extended family – i am part of their lives and they – of mine; but as genius Churchill put it: small minds are busy with other people, mediocre – with events, great ones – with ideas.

          I don’t really care what you had for lunch and with whom do you sleep, but i do care and would love to share the magic of your life, the extraordinary that you live in the ordinary – and that’s what i am willing to share of myself too; i follow numerous blogs and have numerous online friends – you, guys, make me happy and fulfilled by sharing your thoughts and artwork and sometimes just ramblings and miniature sketches of lives i otherwise wouldn’t get to know; in this dimension it’s highly unrealistic all of us will get together  in the same time at the same place – but, you know, it’s ok with me, the feelings i experience and the inspiration i get from you is real – and that’s just about all i need.

          For art is anyway deprived of the casual – in movies you don’t normally get to see the actors emptying their bowels and in books you’d hardly focus on food that didn’t turn out right or on days in which nothing special happens… Right, real life is made of hours and hours of maintenance of the physical, but i don’t need to share that part with you – in order to relate to your magic, or to your pain per that matter… And posting text after text on the subject of presumed illusion of the internet vs the reality … Sure, it’s as if these bores are historical Buddha himself and it’s as if they get to see the reality as it is… They don’t – and with their lack of imagination they can’t even enjoy the online experience, poor dahlings ( i do feel sorry for them, i just wish they stopped bombarding my inbox and my fb wall with their views as i find them utterly uninspiring, ’tis all.)

If you happen to be one of those people – please go back to watching reality tv or whatever you find a realistic and empowering thing to do, and let the rest of us enjoy what we find pleasurable and fulfilling, kay?

Photo credit: Philippe Halsman ‘s Dali Atomicus (1948), public domain

Visual archive of this picture taken by Philippe Halsman -28 jumps were necessary and a room full of assistants, cats and buckets of water

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Logo ministarstvo kulture cg

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 790 other followers

Lena Ruth Stefanovic

Lena Ruth Stefanovic

Top Posts & Pages

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke
  • književna premijera: ROMAN LENE RUTH STEFANOVIĆ "AIMÉE / VOLJENA", OKF, Cetinje, 7/2020; ulomak
  • Crvene šterike
  • Bookfair
  • Dreaming city
  • A Daughter of the Childless One (an excerpt)

Recent Posts

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke

Archives

  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Categories

  • Awards
  • Coming of Age / Bildungsroman
  • Essay
  • Humor
  • I Ching
  • Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition
  • Magical Realism
  • Photography
  • Poetry
  • Satire
  • Tarot
  • Uncategorized
  • Zen

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Archives

March 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Sep    

Archives

Tarot Community

Tarot Community

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 790 other followers

Pages

  • “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”
  • About me
  • About this blog & Awards received
  • Copyright notice

Recent Posts

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke

  • moderndayruth
March 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Sep    

Top Posts & Pages

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke
  • književna premijera: ROMAN LENE RUTH STEFANOVIĆ "AIMÉE / VOLJENA", OKF, Cetinje, 7/2020; ulomak
  • Crvene šterike
  • Bookfair
  • Dreaming city
  • A Daughter of the Childless One (an excerpt)

Blog Stats

  • 52,030 hits

Blogroll

  • (con)temporary tarot Enrique Enriquez’ Blog
  • Live Kabbalah Live Kabbalah University
  • Love Dove Tarot Lisa Frideborg Lloyd’s Blog
  • Mary K. Greer's Tarot Blog Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog
  • Microfiction by Bonnie Cehovet Microfiction by Bonnie Cehovet
  • Perspectives On Tarot BONNIE’S TAROT WORLD
  • Portal MONTENEGRINA Cultural Gate to Montenegro
  • Tarot Weblog – Adam McLean Tarot Weblog – Adam McLean
  • This Game of Thrones Alison Cross makes Court Cards less of a battle!

Blog at WordPress.com.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    %d bloggers like this: