Daily Archive

The West Wing, ever so often, managed to perfectly capture the crazy paradoxical nature of the human condition.  Watch and experience the juxtaposition so masterfully done in this short clip.

http://youtu.be/qqLIH2UiPXg

How can any day be a day of joy when some 20,000 children will die of preventable causes.  Oh sure, we pull it off – we ignore, we distance, we glaze over the baleful reality that would ‘ruin’ our festive spirits.  It is a supposedly happy time year, yet the rate of suicide always spikes during the holiday.  We entertain ourselves, ostensibly to be happy, but what is this happiness that is procured while fleeing headlong from the misery that defines the condition of collective humanity.  The (un)funny thing about the whole situation is that unless one takes the time to think about the paradox of the season (and life) it un-gently fades into the background; yet, the dissonance remains, like a middle C and F# played repeatedly without resolution (try it on the next keyboard that crosses your path, it is really a henky sound).

Why should one bother with those grating notes in the background, when so much is done to wash them away?  I mean, why not subscribe to the ‘life is great for me, let’s live in moment’ and all that.  We should insert the cliche examined vs. unexamined life bit here to make this sappy holiday soliloquy complete. :)

(ed. Funny, I made a typo in that last sentence instead of “let’s live” I had produced “let’s lie”… )

This, like much of my writing, is vaguely contemplative, but mostly hot air generated in one of the many cavities in my skull.  Given my predilection to rage-hate philosophical word-wanke I hope, gentle readers, that I have not strayed to far into that particular territory.

Rather; let us together find some small sliver kinship and solidarity with our tri-tone reality (that C/F# thingie), and try to reconnect with those qualities that make us good human beings – empathy, altruism and charity – for every season.

And yes, a Happy Holiday wish to all our readership here on DWR, and all the best in the New Year.  So sayeth the happy cat.