Dreamland, The Long of It

The movie Meet Me in St. Louis, which I watched recently, caused me to reminisce about the city in which I was born, raised, and where I lived until marrying and moving away almost 60 years ago.  I fed the memories by looking at maps and satellite images of Kensington Avenue, even found the site of the house which was central to the theme of the movie.  It is now a vacant lot, the house having been torn down after it became derelict.

In my browsing of the internet, I came upon properties listed for sale thereabouts and searched the old neighborhood where I lived.  Many of the houses in my old neighborhood were built in the late 20's and early 30's; of brick and stone construction, and built to last forever.

The house at 8572 Oriole Avenue, in which I lived, was built before all of that; probably around 1900.  It is still there and the subject of another blogpost in By John Lina on 10-28-12.  The other, newer houses were appealing to me then and seeing one for sale in the 8600 block of Riverview Boulevard made me realize that I still have a spot in my heart for them.

I searched around the area and saw other places for sale, some of that same character.  It made me think about living there as I recalled the desirability of those houses then, and perhaps even now.  The reverie was fun and, as it turns out, not a complete waste of time.

Later, as I cut our lawn, it dawned on me that the house in which we now live is the fulfillment of that desire.  It is not very far off from the style of those in our neighborhood.  Then it dawned on me!  I am living the dream I had as a youth.  An area with desirable amenities and convenient to shopping; a nice house in a nice neighborhood, a manicured lawn and garden, finished lower level for entertaining and nice big garage to house similar cars for my wife and me.  What a nice state of affairs.

The poem, Dreamland in the blog By: John Lina, is a terse summary of the above and it poses the question: if the dream is realized, is it time to build a new dream, perhaps using this as a starting point?  I wonder what that dream will be.

The Word (s)

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  The Gospel according to John.

It's a bit of a stretch but it will be made anyway. There are, for me, fifty-five aphorisms that define how I want to live as I go about my daily activities. They are not necessarily goals, nor objectives but simply how I want to be. They are words, nothing more or less, but they have a deeper effect on me than I previously thought.

How these aphorisms are structured is important and seems to have an effect on their incorporation into my behavior.  For example, for some years there was one: Weighing less than two hundred pounds, I am thinner; it was said every day along with the others and there was no evidence that it was having an effect. Then it changed to: Eating only enough to sustain a weight of two hundred pounds, I am thinner.

Well, I have changed it again to say, "Eating only enough to sustain a weight of one-hundred-eighty pounds, I am thinner."  This is because I now weigh 184 pounds and continue to lose weight.  I have stepped the figure down five pounds at a time to get here.  (On 4/1/2020 I was at 180 pounds on my way to an ideal weight of 178 pounds.)

The same is true of other aphorisms and they are continuously examined for better syntax.  Reflecting on my behavior and comparing it to my aphorisms, not surprisingly, it can be seen that things are said and done in accordance with the aphorisms without consciously attempting to do so.

Thus the leap is made from the Gospel to this: the words that we use to guide our thoughts and actions are an important consideration.  The words are in our conscious mind, which is a physical thing, and our sub-conscious mind, which is closely tied to a spiritual world, hears them and behaves accordingly but only if the aphorism is acceptable to what the spiritual side of our being (I have named it Master) wishes.

As long as we are doing that which is conducive to the wishes of Master, that spiritual being inside, there is harmony.  When our behavior is not so, there is discord and all sorts of bad things, physically and mentally,  happen to us including sickness and even death if we don't change and get back in harmony with Master.  Master in this context is synonymous with soul; except that soul is normally thought of as an individual attribute in a body whereas in this context it is supernatural.

We are a physical being, inhabited by an entity, Master, who is evolving towards an existence that is "In Essence" or purely spiritual.  In order to attain this level of existence, Master has to "mature" through in-habitation of physical beings and overcome a variety of impediments to reach the goal.

Ps: In case you are wondering: The definition of aphorism is a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation.

Intelligence and Technology/ The Next Phase

A man (me) came upon a drunk (technologists) looking for car keys under a streetlight (digital technology.)  He asked the drunk what he was doing.  The drunk replied, "I'm looking for my car keys;" (the next phase of digital technology,  i.e. artificial intelligence.)   The man says, where did you lose them?  The drunk says, over there in that dark field (the ecologically balanced earth for the past 4.5 billion years.)  The man says, what are you doing looking for them over here?  The drunk says, it's too dark to find anything over there.

It seems to me that this sums up the current situation with digital technology.  The practitioners think that circuitry is the answer when the biological evidence is telling them something else; but then they don't understand what that could be.

An Expose' of Barnumian Activities

P. T. Barnum was credited with saying, "There's a sucker born every minute."  This rings true when it is put into context, examined for what it means.

There is a major business activity called marketing, within marketing is a subset of activities called advertising, and within advertising there is a major amount of skulduggery going on.

Some advertisers are so adept at appealing to our senses that we are swept into buying whatever they offer.  They understand that there is always a major segment of the population that is inexperienced and ignorant of the basic facts surrounding a product or service; and it is to this naivete' that they pander.  Go into any superstore and you are bombarded with this mind bending propaganda all of which is aimed at satisfying one, or more, of your appetites.  Let your imagination return to the last time you were in such a store.

There are many examples of this and some of us unwittingly fall into the snare while others, grossly uninformed, take whatever the advertiser says as factual.  The fulfillment of appetites is major pitfall for us and a major opportunity for advertisers.  It is seen on screen and in print; an attractive model, a big juicy hamburger, a sweaty cold glass of beer or soda, a scantily clad woman.  All of the messages are the same, satisfy your image/ hunger/ thirst/ impulses.

Then there are the insidious campaigns that undermine reason and cause the inexperienced and naive to fall into addictive traps.  Tobacco and alcohol are legitimate products that are addictive and the advertising promises minor euphoria when the product is used.  Drugs are not openly advertised but the marketing campaign is the same, unpublished but fully extant.

Pharmaceutical companies marketing Oxycontin are an example.  By convincing doctors who can prescribe this drug of it's pain remedy and it's safety, they have created the monster of Opioid addiction that is causing a major problem in our society.  People of high stature have been "hooked" on these and subjected to shame when their dependency is made public.  There are, I dare say, millions of people so addicted.

Vapors of nicotine supplied by an "electronic cigarette" are now being foisted upon young and inexperienced users.  This product is plainly targeting the young and naive while the manufacturers insist that they are providing a safe alternative to tobacco.  These users will come to their senses years later, as have many tobacco users, only to find out that they suffer from respiratory damage that can't be repaired.

Beer and whiskey proclaim the benefits of ingredients, aging, color and taste but in the final analysis, alcohol is a poison.  It is addictive and this addiction has affected more people than all of the other drugs combined.

The operating environment that allows this consists of inexperience, naivete', and impulse.  There are so many examples of it that a definitive list of them would be endless.  It is basically, try it you'll like it.  And it is aimed at every impulse we have, be it satisfying a sweet tooth, looking good, relieving a sexual pressure, or seeking euphoria.

Most people succumb to the message of the panderers.  Some use and then refuse further involvement but others get trapped into addiction; it is this segment that the scoundrels are targeting.  The marketers know full well that what they are doing will destroy people and do it anyway.  They know in their heart of hearts what they are doing is evil but will not stop because they too are addicted, to greed.

There is no law that can be effective against addiction.  Our drug, tobacco, and alcohol regulations hardly slow it down.  Prohibition of alcohol was a complete failure; taxation opens the door to government revenue but also smuggling and bootlegging, attempts to  avoid the tax.

The only remedy is getting experience, knowledge, and discipline upon which one can rely to make decisions about what one does to satisfy needs; in two words, personal responsibility.  It doesn't sound like much fun but physical addiction and permanent damage to one's body isn't much fun either.  We see addicts and don't make the connection that it is even possible for us to become addicted; only to wake up in a filthy flop house one day; or even worse, not wake up at all.

(There's a long list of products that marketers have foisted upon the consuming public, not the least of which is body wash.  A bar of soap lasts for several months, little by little it is used to remove dirt and other unwanted substances from the body.  That was not good enough for those selling cleansing products so they invented body wash, diluted soap, a container of which lasts several weeks.  Voila!  Higher sales, more profit provided by the stupidity of the consumer.)

Who Are You?

It is not easily answered.  

There are indications of who I am, they are the activities and thoughts that I have; the things I dream to have or to be; the things that I’ve done or accomplished, and there is a difference.  

I am also he who exists in the minds of others whenever someone else thinks about me.  I am also he who is at the beck and call of others who influence me, be they living or spiritual beings.

If our house and all that is in it was to be destroyed, where would that put me, what would I do?

If my wife and family were to be eliminated, where would that put me?

If my assets were to be made worthless, where would that leave me?

If my memory was to fail, where would that leave me?

If I was to be abducted and taken away to live in a foreign place that had a different language and where I was precluded from using the internet and other means of communication with my former world, how would I cope with that?

If any one of the above were to happen, I could probably get by but would it be the end of me if all of them happened?

Now I wonder if answering any and all of the above would give me some clue as to who I am.

Here it is, a few minutes later and I have the answer to any and all of these questions.  My life would go on, however altered, until my death.  

It still does not answer the question of Who Are You?

That is more than I can answer at the moment.

(Later)  For the time between a personal disaster in my early youth until a few weeks ago, I have struggled with the task of proving myself worthy of the respect of others.  It led me down some interesting paths in life and got me to where I am today.  

Then I realized that the respect for which I was looking was self-respect.  It came to me, as does the twilight of dawn, that no one really cared one way or the other about me.  The people from whom I was trying to get respect were too busy with their own life to give a care much about me.  And that has not changed an iota.

What has changed, evolved here over a short period of time, is me and my perception of me.  My purpose in life, at this time and place in it, is simply to take care of my wife and me.  Care in the form of providing what is necessary for peace of mind, health of body, and interesting things to do.  

Now that I understand this, my demeanor has changed; the urgency I once felt for accomplishment, for being the Man of LaMancha, is gone.  I now enjoy peace of mind because my purpose in life is clear.  

The panoply of my activities makes more sense, the urgency of accomplishment is gone.  This means that I am not required to do  anything but that which I desire; and what is morally, ethically, and legally required.

So, to attempt an answer to the question, Who are you? 

I may answer, I am he who takes care of you and me.

Conviction

At some point in our deliberations, our imagining of and deciding on what we want, we become convinced that (a) we, in fact, want this; and (b) that we can get it.  We can get whatever we want by using our personal and physical assets but to get it we have to be convinced that we want it and can get it.

This process is developing from the time we experience hunger as an infant until we die.  During the interim we make many false starts, make many mistakes taking actions that are ill conceived, defying the laws of physics.   Some defy the rules and we wind up in trouble with the authorities.  Some even go so far as to break the law and we plead stupidity when caught.  It's what we call experience; increasing our judgement.

Recognizing what we want is part of the process, then finding out and learning how to get it is an equally important part of it; becoming convinced that we want and can do this is the trigger to getting it.

In My Heart of Hearts

What is it? In your heart of hearts, for what you are looking?

This is a question I often ask myself and finally have an answer.  It is not the same as my mission, which is to take care of my wife and me.  It is how I go about doing that.  The answer now is threefold: peace of mind, activity, and adventure. The answer may have changed over the years but one can't go back.

Peace of mind comes from not having to worry about catastrophic loss, running out of money, and things going wrong that can be prevented. It comes in the form of relationships that nurture, insurance, a realistic budget, cars that run well, and a well maintained house with a good roof.

Activity of any kind that is interesting and productive; there is a long list of them for me; a list that I'm not going to make here. Generally, however, there are categories of activities that I pursue. Practice, including exercise to keep fit and able to participate, chores, study, contact, plotting and scheming (otherwise called planning), and rest.

Adventure does for me what spices do for food, makes life interesting. Peace of mind and activity can become somewhat boring after a while; to enliven things for me I like to go somewhere new or do something different; be in different surroundings. This can be anywhere or anything different in the neighborhood, the locale, the city, county, state, country or international places. It can be a specific item, like a trip or visit, or it can be a new endeavor such as a new play or movie, in which I have a part, or a new job or hobby.

So there it is, the answer to my question. I thought, at first, it was going to take many more words to put it down but there it is; concise and accurately expressing the answer.

The Mind of Man

The human brain is such a marvel of evolution that to set out to describe it is an exercise in futility and one that is impossible but here I go anyway.  I am going to write it down as it comes to mind.  Then perhaps go back and sort it out.

Aha!  right there is a big clue.  At first I refer to the brain, an organ of the body that has been studied in great detail; measured, weighed, has had features described and functions ascribed to different lobes and zones.  Then I referred to writing it down "as it comes to mind."

This means something entirely different than brain.  Mind provides ideas, which by definition are not physical, and brain allows us to express them in words.  We are at some level connected to a spiritual world, and "mind" as used here refers to that connection.

Even when connected we are at different points of connection at different times.  We can be connected to another person, living or dead, or connected to a whole layer, and there are different layers available that give insight to thoughts and ideas unique to the instance.  We could be connected to whole realms of cerebral images and not able to comprehend and describe the experience.

As for most of the time, the brain is not necessarily so connected and functions as an organ of the body, relaying sensations and interpreting signals from within.  E.g., blow your nose, eat s.t., relieve your bladder and/or bowels, move your leg, it's getting stiff; for men, empty your semen sac; for women, fill a void. And on, and on, and on.

There are, however, occasions where we are connected to that spiritual world.  At these times we are cued to act, react, move, think, are made aware of this or that; and we may act upon those hints or not and if not this time, perhaps they will come around again.

A subset of this is the influence others have on us.  Sometimes merely by their presence but more likely by their expression to us, which can be directed toward any one or combination of the senses.

There is also an emotional aspect of any expression, be it picture, gesture, or words; some even from hundreds of years ago.  This emotional aspect stimulates us, as the receiver or viewer, and may or may not have been intended to cause the reaction that it does; unintended consequences.

Our thinking, other than responding to the needs of our body, is often guided by outside influences.  These include others with whom we have contact, which can be in-person or by some other means such as a picture, correspondence, phone, text or other digital social media.

Influence is also from media in general, i.e. advertising where we are bombarded constantly to do this or that, mostly to buy or call.  Then there is the influence of music.

Music is much more subtle in its role as an influence.  It seems to work on an emotional level and evokes various responses.

All of these influences seem to get us to act in some certain way; to do something.  If we are not careful they can take over our activities and we abandon the pursuit of our dream(s).  There are those who don't have a stated dream and they go on about their activities at the beck and call of others.  Something like an actor in a play or movie, written and directed by others.

So we have response to body influences, response to the influence of others, response to environmental influence, and response to music.  All of these are what the 4th Way uses to state that we are mechanical, or "machines."  All of these influences take a great deal of lifetime, not all of which is wasted.  A good part of it though could better be spent on chasing our dream(s).  And I say "chase" advisedly because the fulfillment of dreams is elusive, dreams evolve as we approach the realization of them.

We can often not see what is necessary to fulfill a dream.  What we see are little opportunities to take steps towards it.  If we are awake to them, we can take them.  So the fundamental requirement is to have a dream in the first place.  Without it we are adrift on the ocean of life, floating aimlessly, only to one day be cast ashore never to move again.

In other writing, I have recognized the importance of a dream.  More than one persona in the being is on the alert for the opportunities to move toward realization so things seem to happen that way.

Dreaming is a major application of mindful thinking.  It requires the full force of the mind and is primarily imagination.  Imagination, guided by reason and experience, is the most significant aspect of the mind.  This essay is from imagination; it is a product of imagination.  These are thoughts written.

The importance of words suddenly becomes apparent.  Words have meaning and become the woven fabric of thought that transcend simple actions and reactions.   Language allows complex thoughts to be expressed and not only be developed by the author, but also to be passed along to others now and in the future.

A biblical reference is, "In the beginning was the word." It is, I think, fundamentally correct.  We could, I suppose, have imagination without language to express it.  That premise would require a lot of imagination to pursue.

Nothing happens until one acts, takes action, does something.  All of the thinking in the world means nothing if action is not taken, which may be why we exist as physical beings.

Thinking is one of the processes from which action comes and the most basic component or the starting point, the genesis of ideas, is imagination, abstract thinking.  The cycle is: abstract thought, to dreams, to action.

The leap from dream to action can be made in one leap or in small steps.  The realization of a dream is a group effort, where the group is comprised of all the many personae who are the being.

In addition to these and in the likeness of being, we form organizations of people that have as their purpose the realization of  the larger dream, which is sometimes called the mission or purpose.  Once beyond the individual, it is a whole new field of study.

It is important to recognize that organizations are similar to an individual.  Just as a person has a variety of unique personae, an organization has a variety of unique people.  It is the dream that unites the persona and gives them direction.

I am reaching a conclusion that the mind and the body, including the brain, are two different entities.  This is big.

It seems that the brain gathers impressions, remembers them and the mind uses them as fodder for imagination which can lead to action.  The mind reaches a decision on what to do in a variety of ways but it is important to note that not all actions are initiated by mind.

Some actions are reflexive, some responsive, and some reflective.  Reflexive are made in response to perceived danger or threat.  Responsive are made to satisfy a physical need, real or perceived, from ideas spawned from influences.  Reflective are from mind.

Mind may straddle the spiritual and physical realms.  While imagination uses memory and reason to reach conclusions that lead to actions, the influence of other entities in the spiritual realm may also be a factor.  They may, although not in every instance, influence the mind to act in a way that the rest of the being may not have foreseen.

A great mystery is the composition of the spiritual realm.  I imagine two general sections, good and evil.  Where good is the constructive and works to continue life and the spawning of spiritual entities and evil is destructive and intent on doing what can be to destroy life and end the development of the spiritual realm.  Good and evil may even be further subdivided according to some overall aims that are eternal.  We see evidence of great good and great evil such as Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler.

The influencing entities are those who, as Masters, have graduated to permanence through work during lifetimes.  Influence on the mind of living beings comes from within the subdivisions of good and evil

These subdivisions may even be hierarchical right down to the individual spiritual entity.  This is not to say that an individual mind is completely in the spiritual realm but it is closely influenced by spiritual entities in its proximity.

Using his mind, the individual still has the choice to act in agreement with spiritual entities' influences or not.  He has the option to select which influence he will allow to prevail.  The integral of his choices, leading to the juncture where Master attains permanence, determines where in the hierarchy of the spiritual realm he is placed.

Completely good and completely evil may be two extremes of a continuum.  It could be that spiritual entities enter that realm at some sort of mid-point, leaning one way or the other.  Then as the present passes they develop, even in this spiritual realm, to more of one or the other and existing there in eternity, influencing living beings.

It seems reasonable to think that the physical realm, from energy and subatomic particles through atoms and matter to the universe, is a model of the spiritual world.  And we are just beginning to see and understand more of this physical world.  We only have imaginative statements, such as what I am making, about the spiritual realm.  Furthermore, and by definition, there is no physical proof of its existence.  This is the beauty and the futility of it.