The Thanksgiving turkey has finally gone the way of all leftovers, Black Friday has again single handedly saved the retail universe from a well overdue downsizing, and the world has officially broached the ‘holiday’ season. Perhaps more correctly I should have said infiltrated, creeping stealthily upon tippy toe for fear of instigating further unnatural disaster. We all probably feel like some well used and bruised prizefighter, fresh from somehow surviving fifteen torturous rounds with el Diablo himself and ready for some well-deserved rest and recuperation, but afraid to close our eyes just yet for fear of some possible further looming menace just around the corner.
Newsflash dear friends, this is the very nature of human existence, the ever-present threat of utter disaster and destruction. Too many hours, days and years spent in cotton wool cocoons had contrived to convince our combined psyche that the universe was a safe and comfortable place for a thin skinned, poorly prepared creature like ourselves to abide with any degree of casual certainty of right of occupancy. The physical limitations of our species had been concealed by philosophical conceits inclined to make an iceberg appear more solid than simple frozen water, a rainbow more complex than prismatic light reflection, a human being more complicated than a mere construct of base flesh and blood.
Over complication tends to disguise truth, promulgate meaning beyond plain physical attribute, engender a degree of narcissism wholly unwarranted in a minor overly specialized offshoot of the primate family.
‘I think therefore I am’, is a false starting point, ‘My parents mated and therefore I am’, is a much more honest one. The former suggest intellect outweighs physicality, when in truth, historically and practically, the opposite is most decidedly the case. The successes of our species are largely based on our advanced ability to survive almost any setback, mainly resultant from outright good fortune and self-centeredness, to breed successfully, largely due to the female of the species being particularly single-minded and self-sacrificing about parenting, and of course unfettered cunning and longevity, the willingness and time to change nature to suit ourselves alone rather than adapt or suffer extinction.
That the world has become humanities oyster is without doubt, even if a circumstance beyond easy belief or expectation. We have acquired the capacity to enhance or obliterate at will, to share the wealth or be continuingly greedy as inclination inspires.
Having stole the world, pushed aside any pretense at shared ownership, we must solely face alone all and every consequence of our actions. Bad enough we casually changed the planet to suit our very fickle tastes, but we also failed, and still do to a large degree, to see the long-term dénouement resultant.
The upshot of this dirge of seeming negativity and guilt is in actuality a glint of positivity. The holiday season is upon us, so HOLIDAY! Certainly do so modestly, quietly, with suitable constraint on expanse and numbers, but do so joyously, thankfully, glad humanity has yet to fail so dismally as to join the dodo and passenger pigeon.
Daily Abstract Thoughts 