Scene from my upcoming graphic novel:
Greetings,
I see some new folks have subscribed to The Notes. Thanks and welcome. As you’ll see, the The Notes come in 3 formats. You have the reflective Sunday edition. Tuesday is the audio edition. And Thursday is the links edition. I may of course change it up from time to time depending on what’s happening in real life.
With that said let’s jump right in…
Don’t be surprised when
a crack in the ice
appears under
your
Navigating the seas of modern life is no easy feat. I was going to say nowadays, but then i suspect every present day in history had the same sentiment as a by product of progress. I’ve enjoyed the mental and physical break in the flow of my current life.
But now Monday is creeping up on me, and i know i have to return to normal life. I feel a slight hesitation to re-engage in the flow.
It’s like I’ve been resting on the banks of the river and now a big old massive powerboat has pulled up in front of me and the driver of the boat is beckoning me to hop onboard. I’m tempted to say nah mate, you carrying on. I think I’ll keep chilling on the riverbank.
I know that once i clamour onboard that boat and rejoin the flow, there’ll be no slowing down.
It’s not the pace that’s bumming me out; it’s the activities - the habits of doing, habits of being, the habits thinking etc that are bumming me out. It’s like I’ve had this chance to pause the game and it was lovely, but now I have to decided if i want to unpause, hit reset, or play an entirely different game altogether.
We’ll see..
“GET RID OF MEANING! YOUR MIND IS A NIGHTMARE THAT HAS BEEN EATING YOU: NOW EAT YOUR MIND.”
Oh Kathy
Anne: Some part of every girl writer wants to be like Kathy Acker. Her life was a hot mess.
WeirdBoy: Yo! She definitely was a hot mess. And weird too. The girl was on another planet most of the time.
SoulCruzer: And the sex…
WB: Yeah man. All of her books seemed to be about blood, guts, and sex. Lots of weird sex.
SC: She used to complain that pretty much every guy she met wanted to f…
WB: Yo man, I thought your Notes were rated PG.
SC: Oh yeah.
WB: So what is it about Acker you like anyway? I see you have at least a half dozen of her books, plus a couple of biographies and her letters.
SC: I liked her approach to writing. The post-punk novelist they called her. I like how she combined several post-modern techniques for making her work like Burroughs’s cut-up method and appropriation and the dadaist literary collage style. The power and the magic of words fascinate me and when you take random and unrelated passages and put them in juxtaposition to each other to create a new and powerful meaning that blasts your brain to another dimension. Well to me that is just hot!
WB: Cool.
SC: It’s the direction I want to take my writing - the collage style, lyrical essay. I think the Internet and social media in particularly suit the cut-up style perfectly. Everything is a remix.
Not to mention people’s waning attention span and the infinite scroll.
WB: Bet. But first you gotta get that hand healed up, my man.
SC: True.
Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream
Me:
So I’ve made my way back around to The Four Agreements courtesy of Sarah.
We're going to be talking about The Four Agreements on the an upcoming episode of the Havana Cafe sessions podcast.
I really enjoy the Four Agreements for a number of reasons. I've always had this fantasy about meeting my own guru - my own personal Yoda, or Mr. Miyagi (best scene ever), or a Morpheus, or a Socrates from The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Just some wise old man/woman or being with super human powers to guide me towards my own superhuman powers.
You know, I can read all the books and do all the meditation and all that stuff. That’ll only get me so far, and I want to go all the way!
My beliefs has been that when I meet my Yoda figure, that figure will lead me through the trials more directly than just doing the sort of trial and error approach like i’ve been doing.
Don Miguel Ruiz wrote this book called The Four Agreements. Four very simple agreements that if you live by them you will quantum leap your way to authentic happiness.
I'm going to share the Agreements with you here, and then later on, you'll be able to listen to the episode where we talk about the Four Agreements in depth.
So…
The First Agreement:
Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity, say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself, or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
The Second Agreement:
Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
The Third Agreement:
Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
The Fourth Agreement:
Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment, it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Some very simple agreements, very simple concepts but very, very powerful. If you can keep these in the frame of your mind and use them to navigate your day, you’ll be amazed how your life transforms.
The Defeated God
WeirdBoy: Do you know a cat named Satan?
SoulCruzer: You mean the fallen angel who sometimes gets confused with the Devil?
WB: Yeah that dude.
SC: We’ve crossed paths a few times. Some folks say he’s the Defeated God of the Self.
WB: The Self? Come on man, that’s just a big bluff, there ain’t no such things as The Self or that our consciousness is divided into three parts. You dig - no ego, no ID, no superego - none of that stuff.
SC: Possibly.
WB: Man, please…
SC: Don’t you think it’s a shame Adam lost the keys (to paradise)?
WB: Yeah but, Jesus Christ went to the cross to get the keys back!
SC: Hmmm…
WB: Look man, the Lord is hip…the brother ain’t no joke. He’s the real deal Holyfield! If you don’t play right, he’ll knock you flat on your ass and force you to wise up and listen.
SC: Good point.
My Mom:
Did I ever tell you, son, that you were artificially inseminated, you know like they do with horses, they did to me.
Musical interlude
Ed: I love writing these Notes for you. Just the act of siting down and working on this has refocused my mind and now I’m ready to step back on the speedboat and go wherever it takes me.
from the blog:
Let’s play a game…
Battleground God – Do your beliefs about religion and god stand up to philosophical scrutiny?
Ok, I’m going to call the ball here. If you’ve read this far, thanks for reading, I really do appreciate your time. Have a blessed day.
Peace and Love,
Clay
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