Our huts often obstruct the stars
Kalu Onwuka Novv. 25th, 2015
In a recent post, I made some observations about the movies of today and the actors who appear in them. I pointed out that the days of well-crafted movies seem to be gone to be replaced by a pipeline that cannot help but produce the superficial at best. I noted that there are so many bad movies being put out there today that one cannot help but be concerned about their impact on the mental and emotional health of the actors who appear in them. I expressed the thought that I would not be so much concerned if the crap that passes as movies today is heroic and substantive as in years gone by. I admitted that even though actors are just acting that I thought that to play any role convincingly implies that each has to yield his core to the spirit of each performance. I shared the conviction that it was not possible for one to give of self into a performance to the degree that good actors do and yet return unchanged to be what they used to be as every part that one plays convincingly contributes to defining him.
Given the preceding point of view, it was with great relief and joyful surprise that I read the following quote attributed to an actress well-known for her movie appearances as much as her off-screen life that provided much fodder for gossip columnists and her provocative fashion sense that often shocked strait-laced folks to put it mildly. She was quoted as making the remarks that “when you are a powerful person and fragile, you come to find out who’s really in your life and why they’re in your life. When you can’t move, you become a much more observational person which makes you a wiser person in the long-run.” She then went on to say that she now sees her life within the context of an African proverb that reasons that it is when one’s hut is burnt down that one can see the stars. She concluded that she now sees great beauty and inner simplicity in the things around her. I was truly blown away not so much by the depth of wisdom that she expressed but who she has now become through what others may see as a time of misfortune in her life. To help put things in proper perspective, I should point out that the recent movies that featured had not fared so well at the box office and to compound matters she had suffered from some health issues. All this had contributed to make her to be no longer marketable so that she has become a has-been in many eyes.
We can talk about the fall of the high and mighty but it was in this dark period of her life that a new person who sees great beauty and simplicity and inner beauty in the things around seems to have emerged. I have often lauded the ability and unlimited capacity of time and experience to teach us or remind us of some of the useful lessons that we seem to have forgotten or never learned in the first place. Throw in tribulation into the mix of time and experience and what you have is a classroom that rivals or even trumps any that our most prestigious institutions of learning and think-tanks can offer. I have noted that the world would be a much better place if the rich were to become poor, the strong to become weak and white to become black if only for a day or vice-versa. One can never truly become wise unless one has lived on both sides of the fence or know true value unless one has experienced both fullness and lack. In other words it takes circumspection to cure our blindness for we are all blind to one degree or another. We pick, choose and surround ourselves with only what we want to see in life. Each of us goes to great length to fashion a world that suits our fancy from the confines of the selfish cocoon that we assiduously spin for ourselves. And so for that reason, most of us can only see to the tip of our noses and not to the horizon beyond or upwards to see the stars. And yet, in a paradoxical way, it is only when our huts burn down or we encounter reversal of fortune in life that we finally come to begin to see.
Often times a reversal of fortune or tribulation which invariably brings hardship with it can be divinely ordained in the life of every man so that he may be able to sort out things in good order. It is during tribulation that mankind is able to determine what is important in life and what is not. Often times the unimportant things take up much room in life to inhibit and hinder mankind from leaving ample room or making adequate accommodation for things that will help him to flourish and become his best. It is only when the unimportant things are identified and let go that mankind finds to his surprise that the weeds which have been choking his life are gone as well and that he can now produce the good in flourish. Deprivation makes the ugly in life to shrivel so that the lovely and enduring can have needed room to be established.
Call it deprivation, tribulation or reversal of fortune, it is all part of the baptism of fire through which each of us must pass through on the way to becoming better. There is nothing like the baptismal font of hardship to awaken the slumbering mind and sharpen the dim soul. Everyone that endures tribulation worthily will find that he has been pruned and positioned to become very productive in many useful areas of life. He will find that although he may have been brindled on the outside yet his inner core has remained unscathed to become much stronger and better prepared to withstand future challenges. He will begin to see clearer, understand better and care deeper. He will begin to live a new life in redeeming light.
There can be no redemption in life absent of tribulations and no reaching out for love without mortality starring us in the face. The trials of life are simply road bumps that help to build our character and fortify our resolve to do better with whatever the future brings each day. In a way such trials also help to purify us in soul so that we can remain humble, appreciative and much less presumptuous. But above and beyond, reversals of fortune force us to take needed time-outs from our headlong rush through life as well as help us to reset our itinerary as often times many of us take wrong turns in life without even being aware that we have done so.
Mystery of the enduring and timeless!
Kalu Onwuka Nov. 16th, 2015
It is commonly understood and clearly observable that there are man-made creations designed in such a way that they never seem to go out of style or be improved upon. Lately I have been wondering about the mysterious underpinnings of works or things that never seem to go out of style. There are songs, poems and works of art that continue to tug at our hearts today as they did in years gone by much in the same way as certain unchanging truths have echoed down the ages to nourish us in spirit as they did our ancestors long ago. I am always enthralled by things whose allures never seem to fade with the passage of time. Such timeless works hold much interest for me in that there is an essence in-laid within them that seems to be other-worldly.
Things that are good for all ages are rare and must be fully appreciated at a time such as this when mediocrity has become inextricably entwined in our lives and lurks shamelessly in every corner we look. Timelessness is divinely imparted and afforded at the juncture where the earthly intermeddles with the heavenly. That realm is the reserve of a few and gifts realized therefrom are universal in nature. Gifts that emanate therefrom are entrusted to some to hold in custody for the benefit of humanity. The essence of such gifts is like the sprinkling of the golden dust of genius and can only alight on those whose hearts are large enough to receive in love and honor with truth. Such is only received where the flesh has been pared so that the mind can have ample room to express itself in full flourish. It takes such gifts to evoke the creative impulses that enable mankind produce remarkable things and inspire transcendental thoughts that stand the test of time. Things into which such gifts have been imparted never fail to impress delicate responses in the human psyche. They impress emotions that are sensitive in nature and oftentimes come out of nowhere when we least expect them.
I clearly understand that it is human nature to like some things and yet dislike others within the same group or have deep affection for some people and not so much for others. However I am talking here about things that are universally liked by all. There are indeed things that seem to make our prejudices and biases vanish into thin air to evoke pleasing responses in all of us bar none when we look at them. Only things that are divinely inspired can do that and also endure to stand the test of time. Such things that endure in our minds and evoke delicate pleasing responses in our souls serve as a counter balance to the emotional push-and-pull exerted on us by the realities and absurdities of today’s living. The things that endure through time are certainly refreshing and boldly seek to take us to an enlightened place where many of us have never been before. Such things do indeed testify boldly that enduring relevance is a rare gift that attends not all but only some.
Works that never go out of style run the gamut from paintings, music, architecture or the sartorial. In my opinion, the enduring relevance of things timeless or deemed to be classic is something that we should fully explore rather than take for granted as we are often given to do. What makes some things to stand out in such a way that we deem them to be perfect as is and not to be tampered with? How did a building such as the Taj Mahal come to be so well-designed and executed within the harmony of such great geometric patterns, proportionality and exquisite detailing to become a feast for discerning eyes? What makes a medium, platform or environment better suited to inspire the mind to express thoughts and frame visions splendidly more than others? What makes some Broadway plays to go on being staged for years while others run for only a few weeks? What makes some soft drinks, songs, poems, stories, movies, and classical works never go out of style? What is the common denominator that collectively speaks to all of us to marvel at such works to wish for more like them and demand that they should be left as is? How do we come to consecrate certain things as untouchable in this light and for goodness sake how is perfection attained?
I dare that say searching out the answers to such simple but insightful questions will go a long way to help us realize the wholesome living that we are sorely missing today. It will go a long way to help us begin to smell the roses again as the saying goes. Understanding why many things do not stand the test of time while some do will save us a lot of precious time from chasing after things that rarely bring us fulfilment. Understanding what makes things to stand the test of time will save us from the malaise of incessant wantonness and from being stranded on emotional deserts. Works that stand the test of time do indeed serve as an emotional anchor at a time when trendiness and obsolescence ceaselessly hammer at our souls. Things that endure not just say that old can be refreshingly good but boldly declare that the well-aged can indeed be splendid if well curated just like the vintage wines that we so treasure. But rather than explore why certain things are timeless, we have gone the other way. The trend today is to make the crappy and cheap so that we can keep coming back to buy more. We seem to have become programmed to no longer care for things that are well made or aesthetically pleasing.
In the past, I have written about the surreptitious nature of the buy-one-to-get-one-free marketing hook used to lure unwary consumers to buy what they don’t really need these days. The surreptitious has a concealed undercurrent that tows us down to where we don’t want to go and usually ends with disappointment. I have shared how it all seems like a lot of needless aggravation to stock up and fill the house with un-needed things just because such things are on sale. I have shared the belief arrived through experience that anything will take care of you if you take good care of it. It is in that light that I dislike the word obsolescence which has become associated with many of the products that we buy today. But I like the word classic or vintage very much as it evokes a sense of timelessness and good care that validates the need for faithful living and loving care. There is no better key to fulfillment or opening the doorway to the divine than to plan well, choose right, lay a good foundation and always tend things with due and diligent care. It is the only sure way to keep disappointments away and bring us closer to knowledge of the mystery of the enduring and timeless.
Living is to fall down and spring up again!
Kalu Onwuka Nov. 6th, 2015
Welcome to the listening post. In my last post I expressed much concern about the widening gulf between the well-to-do and the masses. I cautioned that things are bound to explode if the current trend continues as all things always reach a tip-over point where there is a gross imbalance. I made the observation that whether we are talking about the economy or nature a threshold is always reached when the system can no longer sustain itself. I cautioned that I would not be too surprised if the people woke up one day soon to finally resort to very drastic measures to say to the wealthy that enough is enough. I concluded by positing that this period in mankind’s history might very well be recorded as the time when the masses finally took matters into their own hands to force long overdue change for better or worse.
Well on to this week’s post. Call it the winter blues but I always find myself slowing down and being very reflective at this time of year when the warm and happy days of summer take a hiatus to be replaced the cool days of fall with the coldness of winter not far behind. I tend to be very pensive and inward looking at the approach of winter more than at any other time of the year. Maybe there is something triggered within me as I observe the trees gently shedding themselves of leaves that will not be needed in winter or the ants scurrying about to gather the last bits of food that they can find to hoard in their subterranean vaults. There is something about the resolve of ants in trying to disprove the notion that size matters and their dedication to duty in the spirit of orderliness and purpose that truly appeals to me. Every time that I observe a troop of ants I cannot help but recall the story about the grasshopper and the ant that emphasizes how necessary it is to plan ahead as well as do things in timely order in life.
But then it may also be the sudden ceasing of the chirping of crickets which I am told that the Chinese love but which irritates me unexplainably that tells me it is time to switch to an internal lower gear. The onset of fall puts me in a cautionary mode much like a checkered flag signals a race car-driver to slow down for there is danger ahead. To me the onset of fall serves as a useful reminder that we are not invincible as summer leads us to believe but mere mortals helplessly subject to the whims of nature and risks posed by inclement weather. The fall season forces us to pay attention to the weather instead of giving it a cursory glance as we are prone to do during the summer days. The onset of fall serves to remind us that we must find that certain balance which allows life to be lived at a pace that is in harmony with nature. It forces us to learn to dance to the underlying rhythm that pervades our environment. It reinforces the lesson that here is indeed a season for all things under the heaven and that mankind is best served when he dances to her tune instead of trying to force nature to dance to his.
It is almost as if I cannot help but go into a re-calibration mode as fall begins to make her seemingly sudden and unwelcome approach. Quite often we delude ourselves into thinking that we can tame nature or dictate to time but there is nothing like the arrival of fall and the approach of winter to remind us about who is in charge. Fall clearly reminds us that nature is in charge and that we are not. It also reminds us that it is time and not us that dictates the beat that we must march to. It is only when we have made accommodation for this fact that we can become better at managing life and knowing what role to best play on earth.
It is not as if mankind has any choice in the matter really with his footsteps going from hopping spryly to dragging and heartbeats going from thumping full to slowing down in keeping with the relentless march of time and process of aging. The truth is that we are all being re-calibrated by life each season from what we were or where we used to be each passing year to that which we will be or place where we hope to be in the coming year. It is the ability to understand what nature is saying to each of us at this primal level individually that is the key to the mastery of ourselves and environment. Each preceding year is supposed to teach us and prepare us to be better in the next year. Being that there is no way to annul the reality of time or invalidate the lessons of experience, I find myself a ready listener eager to bend my ears to what everything is whispering to me at this time of year. There is always an interesting array of lessons that life shares each passing year with those that care enough to listen. And what better time to listen than when all our resolutions for the waning year have long been broken and well-laid plans have become nothing but shattered dreams that failed to pan out. I suppose that in the grand scheme of things, winter is the means by which nature maintains her house in good order and keeps us temporary inhabitants from being derelict tenants.
Fall and winter teach us that there is much wisdom in taking stock of life and planning ahead for the coming year. It is the only wear to be well-prepared to deal with the realities, short-comings, limitations and whatever challenge life decides to throw at us as we encounter them. The deprivation that comes with winter forces us to be creative, manage resources better, and helps to remind us that there is great wisdom and noble beauty in making sacrifices not only for ourselves but for others. It seems that winter urges us to put away the flesh much as we stow away our summer wear and to activate our minds or put on our thinking caps much as we schlep on our winter wears. There is no better season to pare down the flesh or external so that the mind or the internal can find ample room for self-expression than in winter. It seems that nature uses fall and winter to force us as well as the flora and fauna around us to take a needed time-out. Indeed trees do grow in summer but they know to put on the brakes in winter. Yet it is in winter when they seem not to be growing that trees do their internal housekeeping. It is during winter that the annual rings which help sustain their structural integrity are formed. And so in a very real sense, winter is for the mind to take stock and redress as much as summer may be for the flesh to display and impress. I dare say that the theme of nature’s music and that which finds clear resonance within the dance of time is that living is to fall down and spring up.