WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
To Dream, Perchance to Awaken
byVanderleunonJune 22, 2022
“Intellectual responsibility, freedom, and a devotion to what scientists call elegance of thought.” “To die, to sleep– To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.”
While McKenna articulates some interesting thoughts, his base pattern is unfounded. I refuse to accept “true enough,” and categorically deny that we are just “smart monkeys” “so far from God.” People can and do know the truth, it’s just that many people do not want to accept the truth and act upon the truth. Beauty is truth, truth beauty, as Keats said.
LagmanJune 22, 2022, 2:18 PM
“We’re ‘Free’. … Among the 1%. … The design process, whatever that means, must become conscious, global, integrated. The entire human domain, which means the entire planet and its surrounding near space … should be enclosed and included in a coherent plan driven by human values and a thirst for transformational beauty.”
A true Shaman of Tribalism (almost looks like he is sitting in a sweat hut or among smoldering tobacco plants) … “All need common purpose. … All need to continually prove their utilitarian worth to society; or be ostracized – permanently. … ‘Society’: That’s you – members of the 1% (at present anyway).”
KCKJune 22, 2022, 10:22 PM
Unless we’re talking theology, then I can allow for the majority of what is being said in this vid. The man is obviously well-versed in philosophy and does it proud. Actually, I like much of it. I agree with John, above, that there is Truth, which is knowable to the extent that it is available and by faith, and to some extent intellect, you can have it. To discount Truth is a leap, but when you consider things beneath the level of heaven, then I agree that truth is slippery. After all, three words cobbled together mean one thing to one man, and another thing to another. Now try three paragraphs, then three books.
Artistic truth is another thing altogether. I like the way he elevates design and beauty, and contemporary man would be wiser to value the art side of life much higher than he does already. The French may eat too much cheese, but they do lionize art. America has some great arts, such as movies and popular music, but they lag in most of the arts. We do this at our own peril. If you think of art as a language, and as a form of intellect (you thought only words were intellect? Numbers?), then you are on the right track.
ghostsniperJune 23, 2022, 4:52 AM
Casey sed: “After all, three words cobbled together mean one thing to one man, and another thing to another. Now try three paragraphs, then three books.”
========
Good point Casey, and true. But, is that a flaw within truth, or a matter of interpretation? It took me a long time to realize it but interpretation of words has been central to communication issues with my wife over our almost 40 year relationship, and still. I speak plainly because long ago I figured out that sometimes my clients would understand certain words differently than I meant them. An example of this is, in the architectural world, the word “elevations” can have different meanings. It can mean the height of an object in relation to a specific point. It can also mean a “view”, ie., the front view of a building is called the Front Elevation. As a professional I must understand that my clients are not as savvy as I in architectural jargon so I have to throttle my language to their gait.
With my wife, however, we do not have the architectural hurdle but perhaps it is possibly “gender specific” differences? I have heard women tend to gather information over a long period of time and then use it like a rolodex as needed. Thus, a word I use today might be taken in context as an interpretation of how I used the same word two weeks ago. I don’t think so linearly as she does. 2 weeks ago is gone as far as I’m concerned and right now is the present.
There have been times when my wife and I are having a conversation and I may ask her a question and she’ll answer in a way that is contrary to what I was asking. To her it makes perfect sense because “rolodex”, but to me it makes no sense at all because I am not remembering the conversation 2 weeks ago. capiche? As a consequence of getting older I tend to react less quickly as in my youthful years. I tend to savor, and think, before responding. This has given me the space/time to see things a little differently so that what was hidden before now becomes clear. I can digest things slower and over a longer span of time. We don’t argue much anymore, I don’t even remember the last time we did, and I believe it is because we know each other so well that we sort of “pre-think” each other. Makes sense, the more you learn something the better you know it.
KCKJune 23, 2022, 7:47 AM
I appreciate, no…I endorse, your personalization of the problem with words.
Being a knucklehead, myself, I look at the universal problem of language. It’s sort of the telephone game but on an epic scale. Webster’s Dictionary can write and write, but at the end of the day no two humans will grok a given word the same way.
Rev.Bro. Generik BroderickJune 23, 2022, 3:58 AM
True enough is perfect for the squabbling ones to settle down. Your version of Scripture vs the others. Your Spirit guide vs the Holy Ghost. Or is it The Holy Spirit? True enough. How’s that working for you? In this age of corruption, FRN’s as “money”, a certain fortunate son profiting mightily from his dad’s connection, it sure seems to be upside down world. Used to be prosperity gospel, remember that? Soon the Hunter becomes the hunted. Tolerating fraud has consequences. Hold fast. First step: Stop with the TV Programming.
JackJune 23, 2022, 6:51 AM
Interesting but he refused to touch upon the abuse of power by ‘them’s what pull the strings’ and the reliance upon the rest of life (1%/99% +/-) upon the string pullers.
Art and dreams that help us dig out of the mire of this human zoo are wonderful and a needed component in human life but insidious rulers, and the world is simply chock full of them at the moment, don’t care one whit about it. To survive, you’d best be able to feed and defend yourselves.
KCKJune 23, 2022, 7:50 AM
I’m going to fuck up the quote, but it was, I think, John Adams (?) who said that the grandfathers fight wars so that their offspring can be painters. I used to live that truth. Now, I trust a lot more in Springfield Arms than I do in my state house.
Arts always interesting, I’m bless with friends whom are gifted artist. And some well, perhaps the problem lies in my interpretation of their art.
I’m a simple man prefer sunrises and sunsets, while many are adept at putting both on canvas, nobody gets it like it really is, nobody can incorporate the earth the cold, the smells of nature as god himself intended.
Sensory interpretation is so so defined by individuality.
I literally had my nose almost removed by multiple tire iron strikes in 1982. Which means I smell things differently. House smells I don’t interpret well, outdoor smells I have a very defined sense of smell.
Different rocks smell different to me. Different dirt smells different to me. I don’t hear we’ll either, but I’ve refined my sense of hearing to a fine degree, I hear vibration not the noise itself.
What I think I’m saying is, we all define art, or the art of life to meet our individual needs.
For men like Casey art could be defined as life. Admire that, I’m just not their yet.
HylandJune 23, 2022, 8:55 AM
What McKenna was saying here is that perception of beauty, and the ability to create it, rates in the highest categories of human endeavor. Very few live and breathe that rarified stratosphere.
HylandJune 23, 2022, 9:10 AM
I ‘m not bragging… just saying that I am living that rare life of creating beauty. I provide a service that bestows beauty to my customers… kicks their enterprise up several notches in a highly competitive town which people visit expecting to see all of those wonderful qualities. I’ve had customers cry as they hand me a check because I left them looking classy. This is something the electricians and plumbers don’t experience. I know they do a beautiful job in their own way, but witnessing a visceral reaction to beauty is quite a heady experience. Creating it is a whole other level, too.
Hyland, your not bragging, you do indeed have a gift, you are someone who is a creator of stuff, amazing stuff. I admire your skills set, your work is amazing, A gift from god.
We are as different as night and day, yet I admire what you bring to the table, in thought and art. Your talent, your gifts i envoy. My problem is I’m a cornucopia of totally useless knowledge. Yet I seem to get by.
I find myself daily reading your stuff, following the links you provide. Mostly good stuff.
Thank you.
Sid VJune 23, 2022, 11:49 AM
Sorry, but I guess I’m out of the loop here. What art does Hyland create? Anybody got a link?
I’m possibly the last sign maker in Northern New Mexico who is designing graphics and creating hand made signs. Seems every other shop has no paint and all they can do is churn out computer-cut vinyl letters. Click my name and that should open my website. There’s various categories and also a portrait section. I haven’t had a boss since I was 18 and that’s another level of beauty and euphoria.
VanderleunJune 23, 2022, 1:46 PM
Great sign maker.
Sid VJune 23, 2022, 5:51 PM
Wow. Very VERY cool. Thanks Tom!
ghostsniperJune 23, 2022, 7:23 PM
It’s all going the way of the buggy whips it seems. I knew a sign guy in Florida named Gary Lake (lay-kee) that made real nice sand blasted signs and he made some for me that were installed on construction sites for buildings I designed. I had over 300 of them made over the years and the majority of them were stolen. Like I said, they looked real nice. I wonder how many of them are mounted in bars and “man caves”?
As I’ve mentioned before my wife has worked as the managing editor for an international sign magazine since 1988. Last year that magazine stopped producing dead tree magazines and went to a total online magazine subscription and subscriptions dropped off drastically. This past week the owner of the company asked my wife, in desperation, if she has any ideas on how to keep the magazine running because the subscriptions are now under 3000 and the advertisers are bailing left and right.
Most of the sign companies have taken the same road I seen people in my profession take back in the 90’s. Full conversion into technology and apathy toward the art in architecture, as well as the skill to create buildings in the minds eye that will last long after the creators are gone. Simply, nobody cares about quality any more. There’s still a few people that do but they are being plowed under. Tom Hyland is about my age and we are the last of the mohicans. I don’t know where they go from here. Maybe it all falls down. Hang in there Tom! BTW, it’s almost 10:30pm and yes, I’m sitting here working on a building design. Not because I want to but because my inner fires require it.
Tom HylandJune 23, 2022, 6:03 PM
Thanks Dirk…. thanks Sid! Thank you Gerard. Poetry is sculpting beauty with words. You’ve got that gift in abundance. When words or paintings or music… architecture… hell, interior decoration… there’s the reaction that shuts off the brain and you sit in amazement. I’ve felt that shiver standing in front of van Gogh’s self portrait at the Art Institute in Chicago. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/vincent-van-goghs-self-portraits I’ve gotten the shiver standing beneath Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and his Pieta in St. Peter’s. Another awe-struck silence occurred the couple of times I’ve been inside this jewelry box… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Chapelle
But hey… pulling off a perfect Thanksgiving gathering and getting shnockered with your loved ones is beauty beyond description. I’ve had this song in my head by Peter Gabriel… “Mercy Street” which he wrote in honor of the poet Ann Sexton. One of the best lines is… “all of the buildings, all of the cars, were once just a dream in somebody’s head…” That’s what blows my mind. How we dream and invent and where once there was absolutely nothing now there is beauty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYw9UrsFJa4
Tom HylandJune 23, 2022, 7:06 PM
Gerard… I attempted profound thanks to you all but it disappeared into the void! A couple of hours ago.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
While McKenna articulates some interesting thoughts, his base pattern is unfounded. I refuse to accept “true enough,” and categorically deny that we are just “smart monkeys” “so far from God.” People can and do know the truth, it’s just that many people do not want to accept the truth and act upon the truth. Beauty is truth, truth beauty, as Keats said.
“We’re ‘Free’. … Among the 1%. … The design process, whatever that means, must become conscious, global, integrated. The entire human domain, which means the entire planet and its surrounding near space … should be enclosed and included in a coherent plan driven by human values and a thirst for transformational beauty.”
A true Shaman of Tribalism (almost looks like he is sitting in a sweat hut or among smoldering tobacco plants) … “All need common purpose. … All need to continually prove their utilitarian worth to society; or be ostracized – permanently. … ‘Society’: That’s you – members of the 1% (at present anyway).”
Unless we’re talking theology, then I can allow for the majority of what is being said in this vid. The man is obviously well-versed in philosophy and does it proud. Actually, I like much of it. I agree with John, above, that there is Truth, which is knowable to the extent that it is available and by faith, and to some extent intellect, you can have it. To discount Truth is a leap, but when you consider things beneath the level of heaven, then I agree that truth is slippery. After all, three words cobbled together mean one thing to one man, and another thing to another. Now try three paragraphs, then three books.
Artistic truth is another thing altogether. I like the way he elevates design and beauty, and contemporary man would be wiser to value the art side of life much higher than he does already. The French may eat too much cheese, but they do lionize art. America has some great arts, such as movies and popular music, but they lag in most of the arts. We do this at our own peril. If you think of art as a language, and as a form of intellect (you thought only words were intellect? Numbers?), then you are on the right track.
Casey sed: “After all, three words cobbled together mean one thing to one man, and another thing to another. Now try three paragraphs, then three books.”
========
Good point Casey, and true. But, is that a flaw within truth, or a matter of interpretation? It took me a long time to realize it but interpretation of words has been central to communication issues with my wife over our almost 40 year relationship, and still. I speak plainly because long ago I figured out that sometimes my clients would understand certain words differently than I meant them. An example of this is, in the architectural world, the word “elevations” can have different meanings. It can mean the height of an object in relation to a specific point. It can also mean a “view”, ie., the front view of a building is called the Front Elevation. As a professional I must understand that my clients are not as savvy as I in architectural jargon so I have to throttle my language to their gait.
With my wife, however, we do not have the architectural hurdle but perhaps it is possibly “gender specific” differences? I have heard women tend to gather information over a long period of time and then use it like a rolodex as needed. Thus, a word I use today might be taken in context as an interpretation of how I used the same word two weeks ago. I don’t think so linearly as she does. 2 weeks ago is gone as far as I’m concerned and right now is the present.
There have been times when my wife and I are having a conversation and I may ask her a question and she’ll answer in a way that is contrary to what I was asking. To her it makes perfect sense because “rolodex”, but to me it makes no sense at all because I am not remembering the conversation 2 weeks ago. capiche? As a consequence of getting older I tend to react less quickly as in my youthful years. I tend to savor, and think, before responding. This has given me the space/time to see things a little differently so that what was hidden before now becomes clear. I can digest things slower and over a longer span of time. We don’t argue much anymore, I don’t even remember the last time we did, and I believe it is because we know each other so well that we sort of “pre-think” each other. Makes sense, the more you learn something the better you know it.
I appreciate, no…I endorse, your personalization of the problem with words.
Being a knucklehead, myself, I look at the universal problem of language. It’s sort of the telephone game but on an epic scale. Webster’s Dictionary can write and write, but at the end of the day no two humans will grok a given word the same way.
True enough is perfect for the squabbling ones to settle down. Your version of Scripture vs the others. Your Spirit guide vs the Holy Ghost. Or is it The Holy Spirit? True enough. How’s that working for you? In this age of corruption, FRN’s as “money”, a certain fortunate son profiting mightily from his dad’s connection, it sure seems to be upside down world. Used to be prosperity gospel, remember that? Soon the Hunter becomes the hunted. Tolerating fraud has consequences. Hold fast. First step: Stop with the TV Programming.
Interesting but he refused to touch upon the abuse of power by ‘them’s what pull the strings’ and the reliance upon the rest of life (1%/99% +/-) upon the string pullers.
Art and dreams that help us dig out of the mire of this human zoo are wonderful and a needed component in human life but insidious rulers, and the world is simply chock full of them at the moment, don’t care one whit about it. To survive, you’d best be able to feed and defend yourselves.
I’m going to fuck up the quote, but it was, I think, John Adams (?) who said that the grandfathers fight wars so that their offspring can be painters. I used to live that truth. Now, I trust a lot more in Springfield Arms than I do in my state house.
Hunt,,,,,,Gather,,,,,,,Procreate.
Arts always interesting, I’m bless with friends whom are gifted artist. And some well, perhaps the problem lies in my interpretation of their art.
I’m a simple man prefer sunrises and sunsets, while many are adept at putting both on canvas, nobody gets it like it really is, nobody can incorporate the earth the cold, the smells of nature as god himself intended.
Sensory interpretation is so so defined by individuality.
I literally had my nose almost removed by multiple tire iron strikes in 1982. Which means I smell things differently. House smells I don’t interpret well, outdoor smells I have a very defined sense of smell.
Different rocks smell different to me. Different dirt smells different to me. I don’t hear we’ll either, but I’ve refined my sense of hearing to a fine degree, I hear vibration not the noise itself.
What I think I’m saying is, we all define art, or the art of life to meet our individual needs.
For men like Casey art could be defined as life. Admire that, I’m just not their yet.
What McKenna was saying here is that perception of beauty, and the ability to create it, rates in the highest categories of human endeavor. Very few live and breathe that rarified stratosphere.
I ‘m not bragging… just saying that I am living that rare life of creating beauty. I provide a service that bestows beauty to my customers… kicks their enterprise up several notches in a highly competitive town which people visit expecting to see all of those wonderful qualities. I’ve had customers cry as they hand me a check because I left them looking classy. This is something the electricians and plumbers don’t experience. I know they do a beautiful job in their own way, but witnessing a visceral reaction to beauty is quite a heady experience. Creating it is a whole other level, too.
Hyland, your not bragging, you do indeed have a gift, you are someone who is a creator of stuff, amazing stuff. I admire your skills set, your work is amazing, A gift from god.
We are as different as night and day, yet I admire what you bring to the table, in thought and art. Your talent, your gifts i envoy. My problem is I’m a cornucopia of totally useless knowledge. Yet I seem to get by.
I find myself daily reading your stuff, following the links you provide. Mostly good stuff.
Thank you.
Sorry, but I guess I’m out of the loop here. What art does Hyland create? Anybody got a link?
I’m possibly the last sign maker in Northern New Mexico who is designing graphics and creating hand made signs. Seems every other shop has no paint and all they can do is churn out computer-cut vinyl letters. Click my name and that should open my website. There’s various categories and also a portrait section. I haven’t had a boss since I was 18 and that’s another level of beauty and euphoria.
Great sign maker.
Wow. Very VERY cool. Thanks Tom!
It’s all going the way of the buggy whips it seems. I knew a sign guy in Florida named Gary Lake (lay-kee) that made real nice sand blasted signs and he made some for me that were installed on construction sites for buildings I designed. I had over 300 of them made over the years and the majority of them were stolen. Like I said, they looked real nice. I wonder how many of them are mounted in bars and “man caves”?
As I’ve mentioned before my wife has worked as the managing editor for an international sign magazine since 1988. Last year that magazine stopped producing dead tree magazines and went to a total online magazine subscription and subscriptions dropped off drastically. This past week the owner of the company asked my wife, in desperation, if she has any ideas on how to keep the magazine running because the subscriptions are now under 3000 and the advertisers are bailing left and right.
Most of the sign companies have taken the same road I seen people in my profession take back in the 90’s. Full conversion into technology and apathy toward the art in architecture, as well as the skill to create buildings in the minds eye that will last long after the creators are gone. Simply, nobody cares about quality any more. There’s still a few people that do but they are being plowed under. Tom Hyland is about my age and we are the last of the mohicans. I don’t know where they go from here. Maybe it all falls down. Hang in there Tom! BTW, it’s almost 10:30pm and yes, I’m sitting here working on a building design. Not because I want to but because my inner fires require it.
Thanks Dirk…. thanks Sid! Thank you Gerard. Poetry is sculpting beauty with words. You’ve got that gift in abundance. When words or paintings or music… architecture… hell, interior decoration… there’s the reaction that shuts off the brain and you sit in amazement. I’ve felt that shiver standing in front of van Gogh’s self portrait at the Art Institute in Chicago. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/vincent-van-goghs-self-portraits I’ve gotten the shiver standing beneath Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and his Pieta in St. Peter’s. Another awe-struck silence occurred the couple of times I’ve been inside this jewelry box… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Chapelle
But hey… pulling off a perfect Thanksgiving gathering and getting shnockered with your loved ones is beauty beyond description. I’ve had this song in my head by Peter Gabriel… “Mercy Street” which he wrote in honor of the poet Ann Sexton. One of the best lines is… “all of the buildings, all of the cars, were once just a dream in somebody’s head…” That’s what blows my mind. How we dream and invent and where once there was absolutely nothing now there is beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYw9UrsFJa4
Gerard… I attempted profound thanks to you all but it disappeared into the void! A couple of hours ago.
It’s back. Black magic.