Answer me this…

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The tail of the dragon. How do we grab hold of that elusive mystery? You know, the big question mark seared into our being, the self same reality that Mick and the Boys are repeating forever across the vastness of outer space and into eternity, “I can’t get no…sa-tis-fac-tion.”

Oh, that.

Click. But wait I say, do not be so hasty to find your return button and flee, for it’s the unresolved your fleeing, not my post. And the tail of the dragon can be discovered in the most generic of places, in the most ordinary circumstances, in a pail of rubbish or a pile of dung.

Now imagine the following questions are being put to you in Irish brogue by one of my dead relatives. Go ahead, color the scene in if you like. Pull up a stool at the pub early in the afternoon while the hay is still being cut.

Answer me this: What interests you?

And answer me this: Are you living your interests?

And finally answer me this: What are you waiting for?

If your not interested in what it is you are doing, the energy needed will simply not be there. If you are interested you will go to hell and back following the silver thread of your desire (otherwise known as the tail of the dragon).

Detlef Cordes

Ted, I agree "we need some thing to pursue". We need to have well defined goals. But that's relatively new in human history. Most of our ancestors hat their goals cut out for them. If you wanted to see the next spring or even the next day you had limited options. And you had to find your way with the people around you. You had to live and to work together and the goals were relatively clear.

That's different with us now. Life has become so complicated. What's the right thing to do? For most of us there is no longer an obvious way - just educated guesses.

Richard, you're asking whether there is anywhere to go. A friend of mine went to western Africa to work as a doctor. No antibiotics, no anesthesia, not even proper fibres. Sometimes the only doctor around, seeing hundreds of patients. Seeing people die because they stepped into a rusty nail.

So if we see ourselves as a world community - there are deeds to perform and things to pursue, fires to be put out. If only the world wouldn't be so complicated.

<abbr>Detlef Cordes´s last blog post..The Cave Man Philosophy Song</abbr>

Richard Reeve

Hey Detlef,
It seems that the complication is here to stay. So to make our way with each opportunity the exercise of our choice for good or ill.

ted

Richard: great post. I couldn't agree more.

through years of sitting in cubicles, I've often wondered if there isn't something more to life, as I'm sure most of us have. Pushing pixels to simply collect a paycheck while waiting for the next cubicle-based job offer is no real way to go about living.

Laid off in December 08, and finally pursuing something I've long wanted to pursue has imbued me with a positivity and enthusiasm that I haven't had in a long, long time. We need some thing to pursue, that's what it comes down to.

Richard Reeve

Hello Ted,
Your current experience speaks to the point in such a powerful way. I went through a similar transition almost five years ago, and though uncertainty and fear were serious demons in the early days, the persistence to live the dream, and follow the story where it wanted to go has made all the difference in my life. Thank you for joining in.

Detlef Cordes

How is it that we are putting up a stool in the pub in the early(!) afternoon while the others are cutting hay? Are we retired and living from interests? No irony: I would like to live from interests. I like the double meaning of the word in English.

Your post made me look up Shakespeare's Sonnet No. 74 again. I don't want to cite here but the way Shakespeare is tackling the mysteries of live and death is very interesting for me. And he was getting an interest ...

I would like to be a social animal, to be part of the action in a community, to be a resource, to have fun while working. My grandparents still lived the rural community live. Very few options, if you wanted to eek out a living from the land but to work from pre-dawn to post-dust. Few farms could stand on their own feet so the whole village had to work together (e.g. cutting the hay) - or go broke (which most of the farmers eventually did anyway).

I have options, I just took the option to step out of my native tongue, because I didn't like the environment any more - so: how social might I be? I'm definitely waiting for a community like the village of my grandparents, I would love to work together.

<abbr>Detlef Cordes´s last blog post..The Cave Man Philosophy Song</abbr>

Richard Reeve

Detlef,
Interesting story of your grandparents. I'm glad you picked up on the pulling out of the activity of the community part, because I think these questions and the bartender, are really asked by our own souls. Knowing the answer allows for the full commitment to the community. Som many in my own community express wanting to be elsewhere. But it's a vague complaint. Is there anywhere to go?

Henie

Now I know! :-)

Here's something perhaps to add...

"When you are inspired by some great purpose,
some extraordinary project,
all of your thoughts break their bonds
Your mind transcends limitations.
Your consciousness expands in every direction.
And you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world.
Dormant forces, faculties and talents come alive
and you discover yourself to be a greater person
by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be." ~Patanjali~

Another great post, Richard! Thank you!

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