Lighten up! It's the most wonderful time of the year, right? This carol, straight from The Magnetic Fields, puts a smile on my kisser. Thanks, Stephin Merritt. I can't overlook the existential underpinnings to this ditty. Whether you're awaiting Sandy, Guffman, Godot, or simply pining away for that one thing that will end your suffering once and for all, welcome to the human condition! Stop mumbling and cheer up!
Here's how a girl who practices yoga and looks at experience through zen-colored glasses observes a season dedicated, at least in name, to Jesus. (I'll get to my respect and admiration for Jesus in episodes to come--you can pull the girl out of Mormonism, but not the Mormonism out of the girl entirely). It's also a season dedicated to light--easily word-played into enlightenment. I don't know what enlightenment is, exactly, but I suspect it's an awareness and acceptance of life as it is. Anyway, as Solstice approaches, we're also all awaiting the return of the sun and more enlightened daytime hours. That's ample symbolism and meaningfulness for me. Oh, and if you're out in the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, all I want this year is a vial of laughing gas perfume, OK? Cheers, all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R9QTv6rngc
You can PULL the girl out of the Mormonism, but not the Mormonism out of the girl, entirely. An interesting thot. Made me ask Why PULLED or entirely or why not to the last part of the claim? I think the girl can stroll out the door of any structure. Probably with some difficulty in our love it or leave it world. Sometimes the PA system in our heads announce that WE have left the building, and it leaves us bereft of any ability to even use a common term like Christmas for fear WE may not have adequately distanced ourselves from the reasons we started our "walk about" in the first place. (I love that Aussie term) It is in the bush that we can really FIND ourselves. So strange to now be in a place where getting LOST is even possible. Finding LIFE as it IS...what a strange thot. Maybe discovering our own PERCEPTION of it would fit better, maybe a perception with fewer ambiguities. Was the moment of realization that you HAD TO leave the building as difficult as when I knew I couldn't stay in the pre-fabricated structure of my youth? Was the packing filled with joy, bitter tears, anger, or maybe relief...excitement to go exploring? Could you take much with you, or were you leaving behind the "second" most precious things, someone you loved...at least had loved. Were you like Radar, did you keep your teddy bear or was everything contaminated with radioactive beliefs? Fables I think is the word we adopt for those, once we pause to look back...Laughing gas perfume? Oh life is filled with the stuff of laughter. Its the fragrance of every flower, every childhood kitchen, every slumber party memory, every incongruous idea or thot. For me, every time I look in the mirror and find myself that little boy whose mom never could get the part in his hair quite right. ALONE, until I rediscover just ONE or TWO friends in my company. When did I stop being angry that my personal honesty insisted upon my departure? I think it was tomorrow.
ReplyDelete"So strange to now be in a place where getting LOST is even possible." Strange, disconcerting, and very, very invigorating.
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