SPIRITUAL GRAFITTI

               SPIRITUAL GRAFITTI:  An Interview with MYSELF
PRELUDE:
     What follows is an exercise in self-indulgence.  It is syncopated and abridged.  It is free; it is fun.  It is not intended to obey pragmatic rules (Boo!!  Hiss!!).  It is free; it is SpIRiT.  sPIrIt is adventure, SPirIT is bold, SPIRIT is N….duuuur….ance:  Xpression 2 Bhold.   I hope you understand.  I sense you will.  Wink Wink.  Be real. Be WELL.
S1 & S2 were here.  12/8/04
S1 X S2 FOREVER!
Sincerely
Moi-meme

SOLILOQUY:
I rise early.  I assess my environment—external, internal—what’s the difference?  It is dark.  I am awake…or so I think.  But what does this mean, to be awake?  How do I feel?  Do I feel well?  What does that mean?  And who in God’s name am I anyway?  

All right Self, stop it.  It is time to formalize your streaming thoughts into some semblance of coherency.  After all, just because I can understand you doesn’t mean the “others” can.  Now let us begin with this process of communication and verbal articulation—for the sake of the “others”, mind you.

Well, all right, but I cannot guarantee that I won’t drift and digress from time to time!
Self, you of all entities know that there are few guarantees in this life experience!  Proceed.

BODY AND SOUL:
Self Two (S2):  Self One (S1), to begin this interview, what is your personal interpretation of the word “wellness”?  What exactly does it mean to be “well”?       
Self One (S1):  Well Self Two, in my personal lexicon, “wellness” refers to a sense of balance and harmony, a sense of vitality, a sense of “immortality”.  Now, by “immortality”, I mean a sense of “always having been and always will be”.  It is an understanding and an appreciation of the dualities that exist during our earthly experience.

S2:  S1, can you elaborate more on what you mean by the “dualities” that exist?
S1:  By all means S2.  I would be glad to.  But keep in—dare I say “mind”?—that as in all things of this nature, vocabulary and language are insufficient pipelines of communication.  In order to feel the essence of my meaning, you must be willing to read between the lines—so to speak.  Anyway, let’s see.  Duality.  Yes, let me convey my meaning by providing some classic examples:  yin vs. yang, chaos vs. cosmos, life vs. death, good vs. evil, light vs. dark, free will vs. determinism, nature vs. nurture, cause vs. effect.  There are many others, but I believe they all can be reduced to these.

S2:  So how does one acquire this acceptance and appreciation of these nettling contradictions?  Is there a process by which one can earn or obtain “wellness”?
S1:  Well, I like to say that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  Not that I like skinning cats, mind you.  Actually, that to me seems“unwell”, but I trust you get my meaning.  Personally, I believe wellness begins with humility, a sense of curiosity, and a sense of purpose.  One must first be humble enough to realize that very few certainties exist in life (that statement may in fact be the only certainty there is…well, come to think of it, change is also certain.  But alas, there’s one of those dread digressions to which I referred earlier!).  One must be curious enough to find as much value in the questions as in the uncertain answers.  One must also feel that there is a purpose behind all events and emotions.  The person must feel a oneness—a unity with all time, all space, and all matter.  He or she must feel in touch with all things past, present, and future, all things great and small, near and far.  Above all, one must have faith.

S2:  So you describe wellness in metaphysical and spiritual terms?
S1:  Absolutely S2.  In fact, from my way of thinking, wellness and spirituality are virtually synonymous terms—or at least the existence of one implies the existence of the other.  Likewise, the lack of one implies the lack of, or at least an imbalance of, the other.

S2:  Now, when you talk of “purpose” and “spirituality” and “faith”, do you necessarily imply the existence of Godhead?
S1:  Well, yes and no.  You see, that really depends upon ones interpretation of God.  Personally, I view God not as an entity with certain physical or mental attributes, but as a process.  To me, God is a process of growing, of becoming, of aging, of motion.  God is an abstraction—the process by which the seed becomes a tree, a fetus a child, a child an old man.  In short, God is what scientists will commonly refer to as “nature”.  In this way, I am able to reconcile the opposing forces of “science” and “religion”.  In effect, I guess I am saying that all is God and God is all.  Is that what you call a Theist?  You know, limiting as they are, semantics really do dictate perceptions….

S2:     You have just mentioned science.  Tell me more about that.  What is your overview of this age of science and technology?  How is it associated with your notions of wellness and spirituality?
S1:  S2, again this all comes down to semantic issues.  From my point of view, science is simply (forgive my arrogance—nothing is ever simple!) an extension of art and religion.  In fact, science is a religion, just as any discipline pursued with enough zeal can be.  I will comment briefly on one point I find particularly interesting that seems to wed the concepts.  It seems as though the human race is quickly becoming more and more “God” like by means of the scientific method.  I mean, think about it.  It is not inconceivable that one day human beings will be able to generate life and intelligence (uh, don’t ask me to explain my interpretations of these bedeviling concepts!!) just as easily as we now generate fire from a spark.  Hey, is it proper to say that the fire exists within the spark?  I guess the overarching point I’m trying to hit on is that the common notion of God seems to shrink as technology advances (for lack of a better term).  On the other hand, God ultimately seems to mock us in our efforts at simulation—every “solution” suborns countless “problems”.  Aargh!  The forbidden fruit of knowledge!  But again, that brings us right back to those inklings of curiosity, purpose, and faith.

S2:  You like to dress up your ideas in metaphor.  Any particular reason for that?
S1:  Oh I don’t know.  I guess I just like being creative and artsy, you know?  No, seriously--I believe that new or different-- or strange ideas are conveyed most effectively by connecting them with old or similar or familiar ideas.  People generally connect dots and draw interpretations from analogy quite readily.  It allows them a kind of freedom to create and formulate as they strive to capture the “gist”.  I also like to answer questions with further questions.  People have to actively engage themselves that way.  Do you see what I mean?

S2:   Ah—you’ve touched on the arts.  How do the arts tie in with your renditions of spirituality and wellness?
S1:  Let me summarily say that all of life is art.  Life is an ongoing process of experimentation and expression.  Art is an ongoing process of experimentation and expression.  A piece of life, like a piece of art, is never complete.  It is polished and refined to the extent of the expresser’s purpose and ability, and it is eventually abandoned…or transcended…for loftier enterprises.  A piece of art retains fragments of the creator’s spirit.  Indeed, that piece of art is a concrete manifestation of spirit.  Wellness is the state of knowing this is true:  to be well is to appreciate the intimate relationship between life and art.  

                                        LA FIN