Winning lines in a bible of babble (24.08.2003.)
Nothing makes me a smile like a great one-liner. The ability to say it all without wasting too much energy has to be applauded. Andrew Boyd does just that with his new book, Daily Afflictions, a kind of spiritual wisdom for spiritual cynics. My favourite sayings from it have to be, �I�m at one with the Universe and it hurts�, and, �The attainment of enlightenment is the ultimate and final disappointment�.
The book pulls together words of wisdom from the lines of Jung and Marx with Boyd�s asides thrown in. Fascinated and repelled by the spiritual world in equal measure, I find this humorous and insightful take on it very refreshing. Spiritual types don�t really like to throw spanners into their belief systems but even Buddha said, �Question everything�.
I once did something mildly bad and said to a Buddhist chum: �Oh, dear, that wasn�t very Buddhist of me.� She replied: �Everything is Buddhist. Do it all but be prepared to suffer the consequences.� Even adultery is Buddhist, although not recommended; you might have to accept a black eye as karma.
Reading Boyd�s brilliant bible of babble, I couldn�t help sinking of several people. I called my brother to say: �Nothing affects the child more than the unlived life of the parent.� Then I was on the phone to my mate Christine, who I felt she embodied the phrase, �Selfishly I give to myself�. Actually, it�s not far off the mark where I�m concerned.
We all experience that thing that�s known as synchronicity more than we realise but sometimes it sends chills down my laddered tights. As more wine was consumed during dinner with a friend the other evening, the subject of relationships was raised. There�s more to life that love, wine, bitterness and food � but not much. Talking of my last great love, I was saying that I was (kind of) over it but still had some feelings.
I remember an old T-Rex song that went, �Everyone I loved, I�ll love till I die�, and that really is how I am. Some might see this as a bit �bunny boiler� but I see no shame in being true to one�s feelings. I went to a club and standing outside was my ex, looking stockier but no less pretty.
My reflexes are always quick and I didn�t flinch. I ended up getting him in for free and off he went after a brief exchange. A year ago, I might have reacted with less dignity but you reach a stage when you realise that, no matter what you feel, it is pointless trying to reason with someone who doesn�t get it.
Strangely I knew I�d see him and maybe it�s why I didn�t react. You know how the phone rings and you know who�s calling before you answer? I suspect that we are all energetically connected but more strongly to those with whom we have exchanged embraces and kisses. I�m sure everything happens for a reason and that everyone who passes through our lives does so to impart some knowledge. Sometimes it can take years before we work out why and that�s the reason patience is a virtue.
It seems horribly cynical to say but my faith in humanity is eroded daily. I asked a friend last week: �Don�t you hate people?� and he agreed. Even if you focus on nature, great architecture or art, at some point other humans will appear and get in the way. I�m sick of people who say, �I�m only being honest�, as if it is some great quality.
Honesty is not always the best policy. Sometimes it can be quite destructive. It�s no good saying you don�t like someone�s haircut as they leave the barber�s chair or telling them their outfit is unflattering when they are already at the discotheque. Listening and not giving an opinion is often best. |
