What Civilization Brings to Man

 What Civilization Brings to Man

Many fault civilization and the civilized living it brings as a bane to the lot of humanity.  In this vein many gush with justified awe at the crude and coarse living of many in the poverty-stricken places in the world.

It is not uncommon for fresh eyes witnessing new experiences for the first time to regard them with prideful wonderment and appreciation. 

And be generous in their plaudits.

However in the fullness of time and after seeing, or witnessing, or even living the life that exudes from these same dreary experiences, their stark and maybe drab realities will undoubtedly peep out to bring the viewer back to earth.

And a more realistic and more reasonable assessment of life in the midst of such coarse and crude environment will no doubt be discovered. 

Allowing one to repaint the whole canvas with righteous colors.

With colors true enough for one to accept that living in more modern, more orderly, and hygienic surroundings would redound better to the population.

That is what civilization brings to the table for humanity. 

In spite of the fact that yes, order and efficiency may appear too predictable and thus boring, and yes, be also less radiant in local colors. 

But we know that modernization is for the good of all humanity

A Tribute To Jogging

 A Tribute To Jogging

The image of a man in jog does not necessarily imply ease.

One sees and many likely conclude, look how easily he does it.

But in reality it is likely never that facile, from one who does it.

One starts with constricted breaths and leaden feet.

And indeed after a few rounds, the body responds .

With wakened feet responding to quickened cadence.

Breaths kick in with more depth, inducing a bit of euphoria.

And then just as quickly the end of the exercise nears.

The now-heated body pours out profuse sweating to cool.

Feet feeling rubbery, disposing one to quicken pace.

As one heroic attempt to shorten the agony of the run.

One digs deeper for stray breaths, lumbering to the end.

The winding-down process then begins in earnest.

One's pulse starts to slow as the body again responds.

A few minutes later, one lets out a huge sigh of relief.

And one moves on to the chores of the day.

The physical regimen set aside for the moment.

To be initiated again the following day.

We Call It Life, But Is It?

We live and we call it life.  But is it?

Oh, yes, many call it a blessing.

A gift so precious, it is the most valued.

What lengths man would pursue for it.

But then we continue to ask for answers.

Why is it so full of deaths and afflictions?

Such a repository of snares, enemies, and ills?

So many calamities, miseries, and enemies.

And even whilst the first of those are still with us,

Others crowd in to harass  our benighted living.

And no doubt we heap blame on the world.

Not really knowing why we are so attached to it.

Unable to detach from such strong bonds.

We blame it for its addictive vanity and deceit.

Unable to fathom the real reason why.

When in all honesty the problem is us.

Hollywood and Bust

Once upon a time, we trooped in droves to darkened movie theaters and expectantly turned to Hollywood for entertainment and artistry.  These creations eventually latched on to us to become treasured ageless classics artfully depicting  people and events  worthy to aspire for and emulate.  

And to this day, we hearken back by repeatedly watching them in the darkened comforts of our homes coming from the newfangled devices we have acquired.  And re-living the missed thrills and emotions evoked from them.

Now what do we get as almost daily fare for our entertainment from Hollywood?  

Movies that feed on our eternal childhood fantasies, as immortalized in the comic books of the past, now made even more escapist and unreal as quickly as evolving technologies could churn them out.  CGI gone wild and beyond!  The new blockbusters are simply “adaptations” of comic book heroes of our youth and beyond, as scary and unreal as they can be made to act and look.

Where are the countless creative minds of the past?

Are we now forever shunted to our childhood daydreams, like mature adults refusing to grow up and face our gruesome realities?  Escapism lived to the utmost?

Or is Hollywood simply turning on the money machine via surefire  blockbusters?

And the crowding viewers do not disappoint.

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As a kid, I was an avid consumer and collector of comic books of superheroes, lapping up any and all items where their images were emblazoned. I devoured  anything and everything my little grubby hands could reach, though admittedly there were not too many of those items around. But to this day I fancy myself as possessing as much trivia about them as the next guy, or next kid.

I even resorted to drawing them on paper and collecting those, too.

But we understood there was always going to be a point of satiation. And indeed, we woke up one day, and found our interests having shifted to other more mundane things.

That is our usual expectation of life. Moving on to things that matter more.

Hollywood, please take note. It is not always about the money.

Ever wondered why they are called comic books? And not fictional books, fantasy books, or even, dime books? Maybe, because somebody is laughing all the way to the bank?

Seriously, because at some point, most or all of them were part of the “funny pages” of the typical newspaper.

Now it is serious business.

The Walls Within

There are many walls in our lives.  

We see walls in our houses, separating different uses of living spaces.  

We see walls in the houses of our neighbors, isolating their privacy from the public.

We see walls most everywhere, all designed to separate, to keep apart, to protect.

But we can declare that these are walls that do not separate us in alienation and estrangement from the rest of humanity.

But there are walls that do. These are the walls in our minds.  The walls that we willingly or unwittingly build  that put us at odds with the rest of the world. The walls that tend to alienate and make us indifferent of others.

Many believe that solitude is akin to creating walls. But this is not necessarily so.  For many solitude opens to a greater and kinder world, devoid of constricting walls.  Like walls of indifference, hostility, enmity, discrimination, and yes, arrogance. 

Many ardently believe that in solitude one is most attuned to the rest of the world. We are most aligned to our humanity when we do live in the world, but not to be of this world.

Those walls we need to break.  The walls within.