Revelations (Part 1)

“There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.”

    ~ G'kar, from the television series, Babylon 5 

Dr. Stephen Franklin: "It's all so brief, isn't it? Typical human lifespan is almost a hundred years, but it's barely a second compared to what's out there. It wouldn't be so bad if life didn't take so long to figure out. Seems you just start to get it right and then .. it's over."

Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova: "Doesn't matter. If we lived two hundred years, we'd still be human.

We'd still make the same mistakes." 

Dr. Stephen Franklin: "You're a pessimist."

Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova: "I am Russian, Doctor. We understand these things."

    ~ Scene from the television series, Babylon 5

(No political statement here. I just find this painting powerful, beautiful, and haunting. Something about the woman in the foreground standing over the dead woman.)

Happy New Year!

No lists of resolutions. Nor rants about this past year. Just some thoughts to sober me up after spending a week in a drunken stupor. Hoping to have a better post or two as this new week unfolds. Until then...

(Spent thirty minutes of my time today reading about the Battle of Monmouth. Very exciting stuff. Here is some stuff about the suffragettes in the UK, and how they were forced fed during their hunger strikes. Not that anyone was forcing me to eat this past week..)

 

Confessions (#6)

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

    ~ Rick Blaine to Captain Louis Renault at the end of Casablanca

My 85th blog post. Where I try something short and clever in order to begin a new chapter of this blog, and my life. By the end of the week, I should know if it worked.

(Jacob Toorenvliet's Allegory of Painting. I am also fond of his Four Musicians.)

Confessions (#5)

I was going to write a rather negative post. Not the kind filled with hostile tirades, and offensive rants. But the kind filled with doubts, regrets, and self-loathing. After thirty minutes of writing and editing, I realized this is not what I want to post tonight, five evenings from Christmas morning. Nor are those the emotions I want to carry forward this week. My wife and children deserve better, as do my friends. And the five of you following my blog. 

 

     

Confessions (#4)

As I mentioned in last week's post, I am careening towards an important deadline. But now it  is only a week away. This past week, I have been moving along at a good pace. Then, tonight, I hit a roadblock. But I have decided, just now, I am not going to let it get me down. It is not going to interfere with my personal goals. I plan on writing a blog post tonight, and getting to bed at a decent hour. Then, waking up bright and early tomorrow, work on my to-do list for the project (but not before exercising and doing the morning chores). After that is done, I will be spending the rest of the day focused on my own goals.

Confessions (#3)

Tomorrow begins a two-week countdown to an important deadline. The journey is going to take me through some unchartered territory. And the difficulty is that this is the time of year I would rather focus on other things. I outlined this struggle in last week's post. But I am taking this time to blog, despite two days of exhausting work, and a strong desire to shut down and tune out, because right now, this habit of maintaining my blog is important to me. 

So, here I am, on a Sunday night, typing away, placing on the internet another piece of a puzzle that is my life. Apologies for picking up one of the smaller pieces...

(Once again I find myself turning to Edward Hopper. This one fits my post so well, but you will have to read to the end to find out how.)

  

Confessions (#2)

On the eve of another intense week (that will most likely spill into two), and after spending three days sitting around, unproductive, in a creative malaise, I feel the need to confess the following. Maybe it will inspire me to make some changes. Or purge my system of some self doubts. At the very least, it will satisfy my goal of blogging weekly. And right now, this blog is my only hold on the person I wish to be. 

(Muses, a very interesting and beautiful photograph series by Christy Lee Rogers.)

Confessions (#1)

Smart people are always wrong, until they finally discover that they are right.

Everyone else walks through life believing they are right,

Unless they become smart, 

and learn that they are always wrong. 

The following was inspired by yet another political Facebook post that took me three minutes to debunk, because it sounded too absurd, but somehow was so certainly true to another person, that they failed to question it before sharing it.

(The first image is by Ramon Casas, which I chose as a more tongue-in-cheek representation of this post. Though, I still think it is beautiful, and very relevant for other reasons. The second image is Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, and is a more serious take on my current feelings, particularly the figure in the foreground. But, notice the bright light resting on the child. There is hope.)

On Dreaming (#5)

Two weeks ago, after sharing the details of an intense dream, there was a promise of an election day post. It never materialized. I failed to follow through. A surreal election process that is still unfolding, a negative personal experience, and a series of looming deadlines, have left me stumbling about an intellectual stupor. In addition, I have not replaced my habit of procrastinating, nor overcome my fear of speaking out. Hence my fourteen days of silence.  

But one of my five regular readers reached out to me this past week, concerned with my disappearance. Also, a good friend reminded me of the things I find important in life. Finally, two nights ago, two separate dreams blindsided me, shaking me to my core. 

Whatever malaise had engulfed me these past two week, has lifted. Focused, I turn my attention to blogging.

Here is tonight's post. 

(If you click on the image, you should be taken to the original, which will allow you to zoom in on it. And if you do that, you may understand why I have chosen it. Look carefully enough, and you will see the strain in her eyes, the sweat on her forehead, and several strands of wet hair clinging to her face. Beauty struggling to create. Maybe even a bit of frustration. At least that is what I see.)

On Dreaming (#4)

Motivated by what follows, I aim to have another post up before the evening of Tuesday, November 3, which is Election Day here in the US. But, as is always with my endeavors, we shall see...

(There is something about the attitude of everyone in this painting. it is a beautiful painting--I love their body language and facial expressions.)