humanity, humanity

One thing this year has given me is time. That's what I had initially wanted. I desired as much time as I could get just to reflect and be creative. Now that this era of my life has ended, I can declare that I have accomplished my goal.

Naturally it was a dramatic time. Extended reflection allows for the perception of a broad spectrum of human experience.

Before leaving for Japan, a good friend of mine and I were enjoying a last sunset on my favorite beach on Maui, Makena's Big Beach (just 13 minutes away from my house by car). He told me that during the next year "you could be your own worst enemy." Those words were wise in more ways than probably either of us recognized at the time.

There is a popular phrase in English about how if you see bad things in others, then those things also exist within you.... I forget how it goes. That phrase certainly relates to my friend's words of wisdom.

But Japan also allowed me a few morsels of wisdom. From Japan I gathered that when people can work together, they can effectively diminish the bad sides of humanity. I also learned that hard work is by far the best cure for a troubled mind. (In Freud's phrase "love and work," both words are, for the most part, equally important).

The contrasts and dualities of human nature are stunning to say the least. The human heart, the source of our body's energy and the symbol for our most vital goodness, pumps in utter darkness. It pumps, mostly, at its own pace, uncontrolled.

I have come to the conclusion that human life would be unliveable if we were all somehow granted full awareness of the cogs, details, and elements of humanity. One could also argue that full awareness would mean a fundamental change in our nature and thus we would all be entirely different beings....

Awareness is an interesting ideal, and certainly many forms of awareness are still desirable and good. But awareness, in the most complete sense of the word, is neither a required attribute to successful human life nor a likely way to attain well-being. But it is still an ideal, still something I enjoy pursuing.

You see, even awareness is a topic with many sides in which to get lost. Perhaps awareness is like a woman with a thousand faces of which only three can be seen at any given time and place. 'I don't know;' that is a good phrase with which to end a discussion of awareness.