True Colors

How do you see it?

“Black & White”

We say this phrase represents the idea of absolutes. 

We also say “cut and dried” or “open and shut” – 

meaning no further investigation is necessary. 

“It is what it is.”

Most of us freely acknowledge that there are nearly infinite shades of gray

as we advance toward or away from one extreme or the other – black or white.

The existence of all those shades of gray would seem to contradict the philosophical concept of absoluteness.

Nevertheless, absolute black and absolute white, in the realm of “color perception,” do exist,

and they are absolute in their representation of total blackness and total whiteness.

But are we misaligned in this interpretation?

I believe color itself is what testifies to the existence of absolutes.

And I believe the rainbow, with its unerring display of seven different colors from red to violet, 

is a natural witness to the existence of absolutes.

The stark and wondrous beauty of the multitude of colors in nature speaks more surely

to the assurance and confidence of absolute truth

than either the total absence of color (black) or the presence of all colors simultaneously (white).

“Black & White” gives us the temerity to argue against truth

because our eyes tell us all day every day that life is much more colorful than black and white.

The truth is colorful.

“Black & White” obscures the truth.

It is when we see in full color that we see the truth.

Life Is a Jumble

Life is a jumble of thises and that’s

(or “these” and “those,” if you insist)

Of cinnamon crumbles and baseballs and bats

It ebbs and it flows

It rises and falls

To the highest of highs

And the lowest of lows

Stuffed full with the corniest rhyming and rhythms

With splashes of horns and sparkling of cymbals

Tinkling of bells, explosive percussions

Music fills life in all its mutations

Moment by moment

The colors remain

Bright as the sun

Then gray as the rain

All of it is LIFE

LIFE in all-caps

From the first lullabye

To the sounding of taps

One bite at a time

Savored, enjoyed

The power of living

Of life

And of love

Smiles!

Our faces were made to smile.

Our hearts were made to shine.

Our hands were made for many things –

Hard work, helping others, creating beauty.

And our eyes were made to give us light.

The (seemingly) smallest thing

Can move us

A sight, a sound, a smell

And our face responds by shifting

Eyes sparkle, lips turn up, dimples deepen

…but…

Sometimes the smiles disappear.

Broken hearts and grieving faces hurt.

Eyes weep bitterly, and hands are wrung in despair.

Whether it is a slow trickle of persistent tragedy

Or an unrelenting avalanche of pulverizing trauma,

Sometimes our defenses crumble

And we are paralyzed by grief and pain.

…and…

These are the times

When we need “the best medicine”

In any sized dose

As often,

 as boisterously,

or as gently as possible.

The “smallest thing”

Can be the “biggest thing”

When it ignites a smile

That starts on our face,

reaches into our heart

draws our hands into the air

and sets our feet to dancing.

Life Is Messy

Besides the proverbial

blood, sweat, and tears,

there's mud

and slime and filth,

worries, fears,

bugs and rodents,

dashed hopes,

unfulfilled dreams,

betrayals,

disappointments,

sorrow, pain,

unhappy times,

embarrassments,

humiliations,

and thwarted expectations,

and a seemingly endless litany

of grief and loss.

Yet through the blinding mist

and darkness of the mess

shines a light,

which draws us onward

toward joy and peace

and love

and laughter - 

to Life!

All the ugliness

prepares our eyes

to see the beauty;

and 

the beauty

strikes us deeply,

lifts us up,

gives us a song,

and air to breathe.

Incongruity

The moments speeding by

Touch us

Surround us

Change us

They stamp upon us an eternal impression

Of perpetual incongruity

A distinct sensation

Of having seen and felt and experienced something

Achingly profound yet so fleeting

A whisper disguised as a shout

An affirmation that sounds like an insult

A pat on the back that feels like a slap across the face

Like a newsreel jittering through the pressure roller

Confusing my flicker fusion threshold

Fits and jumps and false starts

Perceiving things without truly seeing them

Bits and pieces

A slashed up mashup

Vision interrupted

Senses on hold

As the world speeds by

Trailing a jangling crowd of incongruous shrapnel

Bouncing and ricocheting on the path before me

Leaving me stunned, amazed, and mute

With unrequited expectation

Oblivion

Woke.

A fresh moniker for all who see themselves as newly enlightened;

As if our enlightenment is somehow more profound, historic, and disruptive

than any previous individual or collective recognition of life and reality.

Revelations abound, seemingly without limit.

Insights are being born into our consciousness every day.

Wisdom, no longer hidden, is coming to light.

We see it!

A New Age is dawning!

Again.

“There is nothing new under the sun.”

Yet every day, every moment,  is a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

You can choose to come near to life while others choose to remain distant.

The planet is shrinking.

The planet is dying.

The planet is long overdue for immeasurable cataclysmic events.

You can choose.

Freak out about the possibilities of death and disaster,

Or

Stop and smell the roses,

Or

Put all your senses on full alert

to inhale, absorb, learn, find, consume, enjoy

every infinitesimal detail of life at its fullest.

What do you already know?

What do you want to know?

Will knowing be enough?

Are you happy being oblivious?

Memories of the Future

There seems to be a Hall of Fame for everything;

And an International Museum for All Things;

And a National Day for everything else;

Plus a Facebook page,

a Twitter feed,

and a LinkedIn Group

to connect them all, and then some.

Mr. Warhol’s “fifteen minutes of fame” has become

a serial virus of momentary flashes

in the seemingly eternal

digital ball of string

that is the internet.

What is memory?

Is there a collective universal memory that is storing all the experiences of the ages?

What is legacy?

What do we leave behind when we go on to the next level of existence?

What is immortality?

Do all of us live forever, one way or another?

What is heritage?

Does it change us when we discover the lives of our ancestors?

Will one small blip in the digital libraries

of all the devices in the world

remain forever for someone to discover

untold ages from now?