> > > Which is why my motto in 2020 was to tell freedom loving people that one must draw the line in the sand early, hard, and unceasingly for it is better to exercise noncompliance when the tyrants are demanding a 'small thing' rather than submit because it is 'just a small thing'. Once you yield an inch to a tyrant you've lost the entire mile to them.
That's excellent advice. It seems as if too few people followed it. I'm glad you did, sacrifices and challenges and all.
> > > A truly balanced person , as the common expression goes, ought to use his entire brain. And a truly spiritual person is not subject to his brain at all. He uses his brain merely as a tool. One must walk in the Spirit to experience the kind of consciousness that is not bound to the physical brain.
Our brains are bipartite, and I like to think our souls are, too, in a way (the asymmetric meeting of the spirit and the material). I don't think I can separate either of those bipartites completely, nor would I want to. ". . . [T]here must be something worthy and beautiful about being human," brains and all :-)
This is such an encouraging and illuminating post. Very meaty. The Academy embedded video is also inspiring.
When I was a young child growing up in post-WWII Washington, D.C., I experienced a brain injury that not only caused an out-of-body experience for me, but which also led to medically-related medical trauma of electrodes glued to my head and all kinds of other nutty stuff. I now believe the accident caused some sort of disruption in my left brain operations. Having come from a family of scientists, engineers and successful businessmen, this has been a stumbling block for me. But I believe the injury may also have led to a high focus on the arts and an abiding interest in what we may call “higher consciousness.”
This trait has actually proved to be helpful (or at least interesting) for me in our current chaotic times! Thanks to the additional layer of reality introduced by the internet, we can now read of credible scientists and philosophers considering alternate realms of reality, as well as formerly schizophrenic-sounding topics such as the possible existence of “aliens”—which some contemporary brilliant minds are even suggesting might be the angels and demons referred to in this ancient book I learned about….
In older age, I now regard my life as a fascinating road of self-discovery, a little science mixed with much spiritual exploration.
In recent years, there is much deja-vu in our society and I know I’m not alone. My University of Maryland experience of the 60s and 70s included tear gas and tanks. Highway patrolmen and human blockades in the streets. There was burning of buildings in the name of peace, cutting off access to classrooms in the name of education….why is the present so eerily familiar?
How can Huxley’s test tube babies, produced at an imaginary facility called The Hatchery, be actual reality in 2024? How is it that we’re holding out our hands and wallets en masse, like robots, for our dose of Soma? How long has Big Brother been watching us? What should we be calling him instead of “brother?”
As a young adult, I related most to the crazies among us: Back-to-the-earth hippies. Turn In, Tune In, Drop Out. Be Here Now.
Huxley, Orwell. Bradbury. Truth-seeking. Solitude in nature blended with community. Hunting and growing your own healthy food. Herbal tea. Homesteading. Children. Love. Books. So many books.
And music. Always the music.
Yes, Joni, they did, indeed, pave paradise and put up a parking lot.
We were outliers, the self-described “freaks.” But now I see this craziness coming to a fascinating fruition. More and more of us yearn to join The Book People as the present world increasingly resembles Idiocracy.
My husband was a Navy veteran from Vietnam era. We know how those guys got treated (hint: “Babykillers!!”). So when we married we took the John Prine route:
"Blow up your TV
Throw away your paper
Go to the country
Build you a home
Plant a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try an' find Jesus on your own.”
Easy? Nope. But worked out well for us in the end.
Let me sum up this rant by saying that by the grace of a loving God, who gave His only (I suspect you know the rest), I’m experiencing these last miles of my own journey with a sense of affirmation, despite the angst of my Boom generation. It’s been a journey of finding the Creator of all this magnificence in order to overcome the evil that seeks to separate us from our Creator and each other.
“We are stardust, we are golden/ We are caught in the devil's bargain/And we've got to get ourselves/Back to the garden.” (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Your post blessed me today. Thank you for sharing it and for permitting me to indulge in a little morning writing exercise.
Wow! Thanks for sharing so much about your own journey, Kathy :-)
> > > I now regard my life as a fascinating road of self-discovery, a little science mixed with much spiritual exploration.
It's wonderful that you took an early setback of your brain injury to pursue a well-rounded appreciation based on what you were able to perceive in the world. I teach Christianity to curious newcomers at my parish church, and I try to emphasize (especially in our last session of the learning course) that they should be self-aware and try to develop the parts of their faith that don't always come easily for them.
People who like to jump right in to action should make sure they learn to deliberate, slow down some times, have gratitude for what they receive. Those who tend to be more contemplative and content simply observing, should look for opportunities to express outwardly what they've been developing in quiet solitude. Introverts should practice sharing their faith with others. Extroverts should make the effort to develop their personal faith with introspection. All about appreciating what comes easily to you, and then also appreciating the effort it takes to be a well-rounded person of faith.
> > > How long has Big Brother been watching us? What should we be calling him instead of “brother?”
Agreed, Big Brother is no caring sibling. Big Predator is a better moniker.
> > > We were outliers,
I learned many years ago that I'm an outlier, too. Life got better when I leaned into my outlier quality instead of trying to be a normie. I have no views in the Overton Window. I haven't done that old John Prine song, but I'm glad it worked out for you and your husband!
Your comment here was a blessing to me! I launched my Substack in an attempt to "continue the conversation" I started with my book, so I'm grateful to those courageous enough to share their thoughts after reading my posts. This article was a tougher one than usual for me to pull together and craft, so I'm extra glad that it resonated with you!
> > > Which is why my motto in 2020 was to tell freedom loving people that one must draw the line in the sand early, hard, and unceasingly for it is better to exercise noncompliance when the tyrants are demanding a 'small thing' rather than submit because it is 'just a small thing'. Once you yield an inch to a tyrant you've lost the entire mile to them.
That's excellent advice. It seems as if too few people followed it. I'm glad you did, sacrifices and challenges and all.
> > > A truly balanced person , as the common expression goes, ought to use his entire brain. And a truly spiritual person is not subject to his brain at all. He uses his brain merely as a tool. One must walk in the Spirit to experience the kind of consciousness that is not bound to the physical brain.
Our brains are bipartite, and I like to think our souls are, too, in a way (the asymmetric meeting of the spirit and the material). I don't think I can separate either of those bipartites completely, nor would I want to. ". . . [T]here must be something worthy and beautiful about being human," brains and all :-)
Thanks for such a wonderful and thorough comment!
This is such an encouraging and illuminating post. Very meaty. The Academy embedded video is also inspiring.
When I was a young child growing up in post-WWII Washington, D.C., I experienced a brain injury that not only caused an out-of-body experience for me, but which also led to medically-related medical trauma of electrodes glued to my head and all kinds of other nutty stuff. I now believe the accident caused some sort of disruption in my left brain operations. Having come from a family of scientists, engineers and successful businessmen, this has been a stumbling block for me. But I believe the injury may also have led to a high focus on the arts and an abiding interest in what we may call “higher consciousness.”
This trait has actually proved to be helpful (or at least interesting) for me in our current chaotic times! Thanks to the additional layer of reality introduced by the internet, we can now read of credible scientists and philosophers considering alternate realms of reality, as well as formerly schizophrenic-sounding topics such as the possible existence of “aliens”—which some contemporary brilliant minds are even suggesting might be the angels and demons referred to in this ancient book I learned about….
In older age, I now regard my life as a fascinating road of self-discovery, a little science mixed with much spiritual exploration.
In recent years, there is much deja-vu in our society and I know I’m not alone. My University of Maryland experience of the 60s and 70s included tear gas and tanks. Highway patrolmen and human blockades in the streets. There was burning of buildings in the name of peace, cutting off access to classrooms in the name of education….why is the present so eerily familiar?
How can Huxley’s test tube babies, produced at an imaginary facility called The Hatchery, be actual reality in 2024? How is it that we’re holding out our hands and wallets en masse, like robots, for our dose of Soma? How long has Big Brother been watching us? What should we be calling him instead of “brother?”
As a young adult, I related most to the crazies among us: Back-to-the-earth hippies. Turn In, Tune In, Drop Out. Be Here Now.
Huxley, Orwell. Bradbury. Truth-seeking. Solitude in nature blended with community. Hunting and growing your own healthy food. Herbal tea. Homesteading. Children. Love. Books. So many books.
And music. Always the music.
Yes, Joni, they did, indeed, pave paradise and put up a parking lot.
We were outliers, the self-described “freaks.” But now I see this craziness coming to a fascinating fruition. More and more of us yearn to join The Book People as the present world increasingly resembles Idiocracy.
My husband was a Navy veteran from Vietnam era. We know how those guys got treated (hint: “Babykillers!!”). So when we married we took the John Prine route:
"Blow up your TV
Throw away your paper
Go to the country
Build you a home
Plant a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try an' find Jesus on your own.”
Easy? Nope. But worked out well for us in the end.
Let me sum up this rant by saying that by the grace of a loving God, who gave His only (I suspect you know the rest), I’m experiencing these last miles of my own journey with a sense of affirmation, despite the angst of my Boom generation. It’s been a journey of finding the Creator of all this magnificence in order to overcome the evil that seeks to separate us from our Creator and each other.
“We are stardust, we are golden/ We are caught in the devil's bargain/And we've got to get ourselves/Back to the garden.” (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Your post blessed me today. Thank you for sharing it and for permitting me to indulge in a little morning writing exercise.
Wow! Thanks for sharing so much about your own journey, Kathy :-)
> > > I now regard my life as a fascinating road of self-discovery, a little science mixed with much spiritual exploration.
It's wonderful that you took an early setback of your brain injury to pursue a well-rounded appreciation based on what you were able to perceive in the world. I teach Christianity to curious newcomers at my parish church, and I try to emphasize (especially in our last session of the learning course) that they should be self-aware and try to develop the parts of their faith that don't always come easily for them.
People who like to jump right in to action should make sure they learn to deliberate, slow down some times, have gratitude for what they receive. Those who tend to be more contemplative and content simply observing, should look for opportunities to express outwardly what they've been developing in quiet solitude. Introverts should practice sharing their faith with others. Extroverts should make the effort to develop their personal faith with introspection. All about appreciating what comes easily to you, and then also appreciating the effort it takes to be a well-rounded person of faith.
> > > How long has Big Brother been watching us? What should we be calling him instead of “brother?”
Agreed, Big Brother is no caring sibling. Big Predator is a better moniker.
> > > We were outliers,
I learned many years ago that I'm an outlier, too. Life got better when I leaned into my outlier quality instead of trying to be a normie. I have no views in the Overton Window. I haven't done that old John Prine song, but I'm glad it worked out for you and your husband!
Your comment here was a blessing to me! I launched my Substack in an attempt to "continue the conversation" I started with my book, so I'm grateful to those courageous enough to share their thoughts after reading my posts. This article was a tougher one than usual for me to pull together and craft, so I'm extra glad that it resonated with you!