“Sun’s up, um hmm, looks okay.
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me."
Bruce Cockburn, “Wondering Where the Lions Are.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Lpx6JIMmk
The world survived 12/12/12. I am glad. The next end of the world fantasy is already in the queue: 12/21/12. I am planning on surviving this one. I hope you are too.
The fantasies about the end of the world are so prevalent throughout human history that they should be taken seriously. Not their literal truth, but as expressions of our consciousness. Among other things, awareness of the “end,” (of our death) motivates individuals, civilizations and religious traditions alike. It often helps us appreciate how precious life is or that there is something better waiting for us in the “next life.” But why are these fantasies usually so cataclysmic? Why are they usually fantasies of physical dying?
I am reminded of a line from my book Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence, “There are many death short of physical dying….How about the day you realized that you were not going to be an astronaut or the Queen of Sheba?….the loss of innocence is a most serious death and yet necessary for the onset of maturity.”
I am plan on having a death this month. I have decided to take myself more seriously. This means all sorts of things, for example, resting enough, eating better, and saying no when I need to. My strategy is not to assert my will onto my life and thus onto the world. Rather, my plan is to let DIE the voice in my head that does NOT take seriously my needs.
There are ways to use “awareness of the end” in positive and life affirming ways. This is my choice anyway as we wait for the next end of the world. I am reminded of line from U2’s song “Zooropa:”
" Let’s go over ground
Get your head out of the mud, baby
There are flowers in the mud, baby
Over ground.”