First of all, thank you for taking the time to write this. Trump exudes a fantasy people want to engulf in and that's why he's able to capture a crowd and a level of devotion. He has personality and like you said he mastered the art of telling honest lies and that's rooted in his family tree due to everyone being in business at a early age in their careers. I agree with you on Harris as well and her down fall is rejecting the fantasy. Have you noticed how she dresses? It's terrible like if i was running for president I would embrace corporate style like no other lol. She disappoints me like no other, even her marriage doesn't seem genuine, she really needs a whole new campaign team. Harris could've embrace her feminine side during this whole meltdown and instead she opted out.
it's interesting the fact you make of her style. i find her pretty, if not feminine. her downfall came from her inability to tell the truth about herself and the state we all find ourselves in. as you said, trump exudes a fantasy and in these times people need a strong vision to believe in and his was stronger. thank you for always engaging with my work <3 and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
It's lovely to have an impact on other writers- thank you for quoting me. Most Christians wouldn't consider this a spell, but I consider it a particularly powerful one. It involves calling up a specific memory or feeling from childhood, and bathing in the memory- almost like a form of purification, of innocence restored.
In one version of the spell, I remember a perfect, more innocent love for God, wonder for world and his creation. The irony is many are called to God, but few remember the call into adulthood. In the secular world, growing up has a habit of stripping us of our wise wonder at the numinous qualities of the world and its colours, replacing it with a grey oppressive cynicism. Perception is projection after all- if we feel powerless and angry at the world, we project our inner darkness and shadow onto everything we see and everyone we touch, spiritually and emotionally. It is better to nourish our inner light by using memory to evoke a bright vision of this world- a warmth glow summoned from memory which guards against the manifold, myriad sufferings of the world.
The other version is about people. I cast myself back in memory to when I was eight years old, to the one year I lived in the States. I was living in Mississippi, and my dad was captaining a ship (just, by tonnage) in the Gulf of Mexico. I was attending Sunday School at a Baptist Church. It was sort of compulsory back then, if your family wanted to avoid becoming social pariahs. The UK was different. We still had the occasional visit in school from the local vicar. There were the seasons of Christianity- Christmas in particular, but also Easter. Coming from a rural community, the Harvest Festival was always big. It was probably the most pagan of our Christian celebrations. It left me with an enduring love of the hymn 'Lord of the Dance'. Sung right, and with the right pacing it can have a very Irish or British folk feel to it, as if drawn directly out of the Medieval period.
Anyway. I was attending Sunday School. My memory is a bit foggy here. Because apparently John Lennon was shot on a Monday. Perhaps we noticed one particular kid was missing and realised why. The outpouring of love and compassion towards that kid was awe inspiring. We played one his favourite Beatles songs on the old record player. We felt for his loss. We promised ourselves we would him we would be kind to him in school, when we saw him next week. Whenever I find myself getting angry about the stupidity and casual cruelty of people, in the way they are prone to thinking the worst of each other- I think back that moment. We really can be wonderfully kind, compassionate and loving to each other, but it involves looking beyond the surface of the projected cardboard cut-out monsters we project onto each other. It often requires fighting down that initial surge of irritation, anger and occasional rage when somebody says or writes something which doesn't align with beliefs and values. In short, we have to take the time to get to know each other and recognise our common humanity. Whenever I find myself losing faith in humanity, that memory finds me and reminds what we can be, if we simply chose it.
Have a good election day, America! Remember to be your better selves and find the humanity in others. Apart from the pandemic, by almost every metric each year since the year 2000 has been the best in human history. It just doesn't seem that way for the simple reason that we are living in the West. The loss of existential struggle has us summoning our worst fears from our imagination and making mountains out of molehills. We also have so much to lose, and many of us feel it slipping away by the moment. Paradise Lost- Past or Future.
thank you geary. i actually found your words in the comment section of a random article on quillette some years back. i always found your commentary to be perceptive. reminiscent of those who make their home within the comment section of the financial times.
you're exactly right. paradise lost, past or future. if anyone is to blame for the heightened energy, it's the legacy media for not presenting a more rounded view of things. the citizenry is left to fight for ourselves. hence the rise of independent media. but there are those of an even keel nature among the mainstream. ezra klein being most exemplar.
thank you for taking the time to read the essay. it means a lot.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to write this. Trump exudes a fantasy people want to engulf in and that's why he's able to capture a crowd and a level of devotion. He has personality and like you said he mastered the art of telling honest lies and that's rooted in his family tree due to everyone being in business at a early age in their careers. I agree with you on Harris as well and her down fall is rejecting the fantasy. Have you noticed how she dresses? It's terrible like if i was running for president I would embrace corporate style like no other lol. She disappoints me like no other, even her marriage doesn't seem genuine, she really needs a whole new campaign team. Harris could've embrace her feminine side during this whole meltdown and instead she opted out.
it's interesting the fact you make of her style. i find her pretty, if not feminine. her downfall came from her inability to tell the truth about herself and the state we all find ourselves in. as you said, trump exudes a fantasy and in these times people need a strong vision to believe in and his was stronger. thank you for always engaging with my work <3 and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
This was a great read. I will wait on the bible essay with bated breath
thank you mekdi! the bible essay is indeed in the pipeline. thank you for engaging with my work.
It's lovely to have an impact on other writers- thank you for quoting me. Most Christians wouldn't consider this a spell, but I consider it a particularly powerful one. It involves calling up a specific memory or feeling from childhood, and bathing in the memory- almost like a form of purification, of innocence restored.
In one version of the spell, I remember a perfect, more innocent love for God, wonder for world and his creation. The irony is many are called to God, but few remember the call into adulthood. In the secular world, growing up has a habit of stripping us of our wise wonder at the numinous qualities of the world and its colours, replacing it with a grey oppressive cynicism. Perception is projection after all- if we feel powerless and angry at the world, we project our inner darkness and shadow onto everything we see and everyone we touch, spiritually and emotionally. It is better to nourish our inner light by using memory to evoke a bright vision of this world- a warmth glow summoned from memory which guards against the manifold, myriad sufferings of the world.
The other version is about people. I cast myself back in memory to when I was eight years old, to the one year I lived in the States. I was living in Mississippi, and my dad was captaining a ship (just, by tonnage) in the Gulf of Mexico. I was attending Sunday School at a Baptist Church. It was sort of compulsory back then, if your family wanted to avoid becoming social pariahs. The UK was different. We still had the occasional visit in school from the local vicar. There were the seasons of Christianity- Christmas in particular, but also Easter. Coming from a rural community, the Harvest Festival was always big. It was probably the most pagan of our Christian celebrations. It left me with an enduring love of the hymn 'Lord of the Dance'. Sung right, and with the right pacing it can have a very Irish or British folk feel to it, as if drawn directly out of the Medieval period.
Anyway. I was attending Sunday School. My memory is a bit foggy here. Because apparently John Lennon was shot on a Monday. Perhaps we noticed one particular kid was missing and realised why. The outpouring of love and compassion towards that kid was awe inspiring. We played one his favourite Beatles songs on the old record player. We felt for his loss. We promised ourselves we would him we would be kind to him in school, when we saw him next week. Whenever I find myself getting angry about the stupidity and casual cruelty of people, in the way they are prone to thinking the worst of each other- I think back that moment. We really can be wonderfully kind, compassionate and loving to each other, but it involves looking beyond the surface of the projected cardboard cut-out monsters we project onto each other. It often requires fighting down that initial surge of irritation, anger and occasional rage when somebody says or writes something which doesn't align with beliefs and values. In short, we have to take the time to get to know each other and recognise our common humanity. Whenever I find myself losing faith in humanity, that memory finds me and reminds what we can be, if we simply chose it.
Have a good election day, America! Remember to be your better selves and find the humanity in others. Apart from the pandemic, by almost every metric each year since the year 2000 has been the best in human history. It just doesn't seem that way for the simple reason that we are living in the West. The loss of existential struggle has us summoning our worst fears from our imagination and making mountains out of molehills. We also have so much to lose, and many of us feel it slipping away by the moment. Paradise Lost- Past or Future.
thank you geary. i actually found your words in the comment section of a random article on quillette some years back. i always found your commentary to be perceptive. reminiscent of those who make their home within the comment section of the financial times.
you're exactly right. paradise lost, past or future. if anyone is to blame for the heightened energy, it's the legacy media for not presenting a more rounded view of things. the citizenry is left to fight for ourselves. hence the rise of independent media. but there are those of an even keel nature among the mainstream. ezra klein being most exemplar.
thank you for taking the time to read the essay. it means a lot.