Seems Like Yesterday

Seems Like Yesterday

Memory is a remarkable phenomenon. The ability of the human mind to remember matters that stretch far back into childhood is amazing. Clearly, from childhood through my teens, my 20's, 40's through to this day - the ever present. I recall in lucid detail, a particular episode of an event that occurred way back in time. Then, I was not much younger than four years old. I was undoubtly accidently shoved off the side - which had no safety rails - from the top of a flight of stairs. In shock, I reeled over and fell helplessly downwards. I was dropping towards the ground from a height of approximately fifteen to twenty feet. Under these circumstances, gravity seemed like a strange vehicle. Of course, my inevitable destination was none other than the pavement below. Sometimes, upon reflection, my helplessness in situations like these, taught me not bear any ill-will towards nature. Nevertheless, at the time it seemed like gravity sucks - no pun intended - particularly in the falling experiences during dreams. - Hardly was I never not surfing or bounding through the air like birds or angels or even as depicted in the gymnastics of the ancient Asian (Chinese) martial arts movies. However, in reality, gravity can sometimes be unsympathetically unforgiving and not nice. and It was snatching me downwards - taking me hostage. At the time, being the child I was, I didn't think about being injured in the least. Undaunted by not even the the possibility of death at the worst. Rather, I forgot I pushed, instead, I was more preoccupied about why in heaven's name was I falling, and very oblivious of being pushed; someone was angry, mad at me. Even so, where was my safety net, a trampoline - my ever-present guardian angel whom I knew existed in whom I always trusted - and still do unto this day. Somehow somewhere it was always there though I didn't realize it until afterwards - long afterwards! I declare and I must admit that I never really recalled hitting the ground - the concrete below became something else; I don't recall what that was. Strangely, I do distinctly remember my dad picking me up, cradling me in his arms, and bringing me upstairs into the house. It seemed a wonder I was safe, unharmed and uninjured. Somehow, the "fall" was inconsequential. As the saying dictate: "no harm, no foul"; "all's well that ends well". Nevertheless as days passed, upon reflection, I still cringe at the commotion my Dad created at the careless selfish inconsideration and thoughtlessness of the CULPRIT WHO PUSHED ME!!!!. He created a fuss, but nothing more than a ranting and a raving about the matter. In growing up I often remember this fall vividly, and clearly as it always seems like yesterday it dawns on me constantly as a downward floating sensation, all in all, in a sea of calm winds, along with a generous measure of peace and tranquility; in retrospect, it seemed more like a near pleasant adventure. After all, all's well that ends well. But, for the life of me, the landing itself eludes me; I just can't seem to fathom where the memory of what should have been a sudden crash-landing went; puzzled as I am, I am forever grateful for being spared the pain and the "ouch" of the whole ordeal.

On this thing about reflection and recollection, I am intrigued at the extent to which the imagination pushes the mind into a realistic, or more often than not, a surrealistic future, where dreams are either lost, found or somewhat reinvigorated. My biggest wonder though, is this; how much preoccupied are we in the present social dignity and indignities that we so lose sight of ourselves as cosmic entities. The consciousness and awareness of ourselves as a species of cosmic evolution seem frail, thin and fragile as our day wears on. A tough question for me at times is, what it is am doing at this moment or any given moment, that is so important (or, not so important), that will actually give birth to or fail to yield any significant piece of personal excellence, integrity, and measurable attributes to the contribution to integrity, and prosperity of the history of the cosmos? Are we individually or collectively conscientiously in sync with the cosmos at large? We pray, chant, perform rituals and ceremonies, but do this so dysfunctional as earthlings, especially at times before and after wars and bloodshed, that I remain perplexed at what it is that we are really engaging in. Also very puzzling is the notion of, who do we thing we really are cosmically, and if we really know why we are here. I strongly believe that most of us invite the answer by winging out a existence, by taking a shot at novel ideas with the intention of witnessing an optimistic serendipitous outcome. A manifestation brought about by chance. It's like let's try this, oh! not that, we tried something like that before and it didn't work, and see what happens. Are we just simply a bored species, just living for a graceful retirement unto death? We strive so hard to engage in organizing ourselves into communities of sorts, only for the sole purpose of disengaging from being a worldly nest. We live in singular unison but in plural worldly social divisiveness. With each breath that we take, what is it with each of us that we are doing, and why and why not something else? What is it that we are so uncontentious about, or so dogmatically preoccupied or programmed with that causes us to lose and or find ourselves unwittingly at the rope's end? This is a conundrum for most, not counting myself as an exception, if not for all of us.

I am aware that there are some very wise, smart, and intellectually gifted individuals who probably have answered or have the answers to musings of this sort. But my question to them is, by whose standards are we measured in terms of how well or how badly are we doing as a creation. What other beings do we measure down to, rather than how others measure up to us. At what point in the accounting did we decide that we are the kings, the superior beings, the magnificent benefactors of a God or Gods of the Universe? With our weapons, it is undoubtedly established that we are at top of the food-chain here on this planet. I am beginning to suspect that this is as far as we will attain, in terms of dominance. It is yet to be determined whether our intelligence will take us any further. It appears that when we look up we do so only to see how much higher we can go, and not so much as how lowly and at what a snail's pace we are managing this progress. Look at us on any given good or bad day, and see how apparently we find sanctity and comfort in the notion that we have come a long way, and that with, I guess, God's help and not speed, we will get "there, somewhere", seeing that we have endured and persevered through a most precious ordeal, for what at one time was a struggle for the survival of the fittest. Now, in spite of it all, since we have proved to be the fittest, the question still remains. What's next? We had tried at killing one another off and have failed. We proved too fierce and resilient for one- to-another. So really, What's Next. I find this more amusing than it is less troubling.... THERE YOU HAVE IT! ....

I assume you have an opinion, so Welcome to the Knight's Circle where you can LET LOOSE and LET FLY...here you don't have to be politically correct. You don't even have to be right, just be honest, innovative, sensible and reasonably fair and refreshing... if you can be all that and then some, then you have a place here amongst the KNIGNT'S CIRCLE.

The Ironies of Progress: Henry Adams and the American DreamNarrative, ritual, and irony in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.(John Bunyan)(Critical essay): An article from: Journal of Narrative Theory