Make the World Go Away
It was just another one of my glib-ass jokes at the office, but I meant it, underneath the glibness(or should I say, glibassness?). Somebody was discussing one of the reality shows on TV, and my comment was, "I don't like reality TV too much. But then I don't like reality that much either".
And I really don't. Well, what passes for reality anyway, most of the time. Or at least what passes through the doors of our office every day. Disasters great and small. Unemployment. Poverty. But then, where I work(an undisclosed gov't bldg--let's just say the same place Barney Rubble worked, they never told you that either..)is a place of concentrated negativity. It's supposed to be that way.
Being a human services place, we take care of problems. Money problems. Job problems. Human problems. My reality from 8:30 to 5, Monday through Friday, is all these problems and their solutions. Not exactly rose-colored glasses, more like the stuff roses are grown in..
Actually it's probably good, in a counterbalancing sort of way, to have a job in which I'm steeped in reality because I myself am not. I can of course tell you who the Mayor of my city is, and the Governor of my state, and the President/Vice-President of my country, but it starts to get hazier from there. Despite repeated resolutions to start doing so, I don't follow current events like I should(I try but seem to lose my hard-on somewhere in the middle of it..) , and am thus woefully underinformed in some areas of life. So at least I get my mandatory dose of reality for 37.5 hours every week. I know it's there.
As a musician, I can tell you a whole lot of musical facts: to do with history, with musical notation & nomenclature, about many musicians and musical movements through the ages. Musical realities. But music itself exists in the realm of imagination. That's where it's created and that's where it's heard and appreciated. And that's where, as a musican(well, as a creative human being)I like to spend a lot of time. My 'alternate address', as it were..
So I suppose I straddle these two realities, inner and outer. During the work-week, I handle situations on the phone and in person and try to give my full attention to what I'm doing, to "live" in that reality, like it or not. But during the lulls in activity, my mind seems to go into that other realm and -well, basically create stuff. I've got some song lyrics to 2 different tunes , and have created a couple cartoon characters just in my imagination. Creative daydreams.
I'm not a religious person per se, but I think I am a spiritual one. And I do think that man's real nature, underneath it all, is one of joy and light. Thus , the creative process, also being a joyous one, can be said to be a "truer" reality than the one we put up with day after day. We often feel more alive there than we do in our 'normal' state.
One thing I remember reading which I've found to be true is that eventually everything becomes your sadhana, your spiritual work, your work on yourself. Everything you do in your life(or, I suppose, don't do- or refrain from doing). So I think I'll continue writing music and inventing weird cartoon characters and coming up with off-the-wall lyrics and concepts. It's a healthy thing. But I'll still continue to make attempts(abortive as they may end up being)every so often to poke my head out and see what the Mayor or Governor or President are up to. Hopefully they'll be the same folks as last time I checked...
And I really don't. Well, what passes for reality anyway, most of the time. Or at least what passes through the doors of our office every day. Disasters great and small. Unemployment. Poverty. But then, where I work(an undisclosed gov't bldg--let's just say the same place Barney Rubble worked, they never told you that either..)is a place of concentrated negativity. It's supposed to be that way.
Being a human services place, we take care of problems. Money problems. Job problems. Human problems. My reality from 8:30 to 5, Monday through Friday, is all these problems and their solutions. Not exactly rose-colored glasses, more like the stuff roses are grown in..
Actually it's probably good, in a counterbalancing sort of way, to have a job in which I'm steeped in reality because I myself am not. I can of course tell you who the Mayor of my city is, and the Governor of my state, and the President/Vice-President of my country, but it starts to get hazier from there. Despite repeated resolutions to start doing so, I don't follow current events like I should(I try but seem to lose my hard-on somewhere in the middle of it..) , and am thus woefully underinformed in some areas of life. So at least I get my mandatory dose of reality for 37.5 hours every week. I know it's there.
As a musician, I can tell you a whole lot of musical facts: to do with history, with musical notation & nomenclature, about many musicians and musical movements through the ages. Musical realities. But music itself exists in the realm of imagination. That's where it's created and that's where it's heard and appreciated. And that's where, as a musican(well, as a creative human being)I like to spend a lot of time. My 'alternate address', as it were..
So I suppose I straddle these two realities, inner and outer. During the work-week, I handle situations on the phone and in person and try to give my full attention to what I'm doing, to "live" in that reality, like it or not. But during the lulls in activity, my mind seems to go into that other realm and -well, basically create stuff. I've got some song lyrics to 2 different tunes , and have created a couple cartoon characters just in my imagination. Creative daydreams.
I'm not a religious person per se, but I think I am a spiritual one. And I do think that man's real nature, underneath it all, is one of joy and light. Thus , the creative process, also being a joyous one, can be said to be a "truer" reality than the one we put up with day after day. We often feel more alive there than we do in our 'normal' state.
One thing I remember reading which I've found to be true is that eventually everything becomes your sadhana, your spiritual work, your work on yourself. Everything you do in your life(or, I suppose, don't do- or refrain from doing). So I think I'll continue writing music and inventing weird cartoon characters and coming up with off-the-wall lyrics and concepts. It's a healthy thing. But I'll still continue to make attempts(abortive as they may end up being)every so often to poke my head out and see what the Mayor or Governor or President are up to. Hopefully they'll be the same folks as last time I checked...
posted by Roger U Roundly at 11:36 AM
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