Thank you, Annie. This article actually came at a great time of decision-making for me, and encouraged me to take some steps in what I hope is the right direction.
As always, Annie. You present us with much of worth to masticate and ruminate upon. Unfortunately, I can't help but reflect that if all human life on this planet is actually a coincidental fluke of random circumstance, then perhaps one of our greatest failings is to sincerely believe not just that our small acts of 'everyday heroics' may have some greater meaning in a cosmos so far more complex than our wildest imaginings may ever perceive, but the fact that our so-called 'human lives' are also as absolutely empty as an oxymoronic Zen koan.
As a non-believer, I nevertheless recognise the practical wisdom of such philosophical projections as the Buddhist concept of Darma, and feel that although life as we conceive it may be no more important than a mere release of equine exhaust in the vast emptiness of the Badlands, on a cosmic scale we should never fool ourselves into thinking that any of our subjective experiences matter in the least. If we (human beings) had the least horse sense (speaking of equine things), we'd all dutifully gallop over to the edge of the cliff face on which the Rushmore Memorial has been carved and throw ourselves off it like the good little human lemmings we seem to be.
Since that shall never come to pass, let's just enjoy whatever small pleasures and enrichments come our way by chance and not get ourselves too overly worked up with thoughts of 'small, but noble' acts and the simple sacrifices of ordinary living, such as you suggest TJ purposefully made. After all he was a rather extraordinary individual...and we are just simple lambs who have lost our way (baaah-baaah, baaah!). [I'm sure TJ would have loved to find his (non-religious) shepherd as much as any one of us.]
All that said, my maternal family had a family reunion in that region of SD you mention a few years ago and said gathering was also a primally charged experience, set amidst some of the starkest scenic beauty imaginable. If there is a Supreme Deity (just for the sake of the argument), the Badlands certainly would have to be His Cathedral of the Annunication...
Thanks for keeping our cerebral neurons in constant Brownian motion, Annie!
Mt. Rushmore is definitely on my bucket list. It’s funny, but I just watched the movie North by Northwest last night (one of my favorites) and thought about it again. My mom reminded me recently that my dad, who started a new job over an hour away from home in my senior year of high school, sacrificed greatly by making that extra drive for almost three years. He and my mom finally moved to the city where he worked after I got married and moved out. Sadly, I don’t remember ever thanking him while he was alive for making that sacrifice.
Thank you, Annie. This article actually came at a great time of decision-making for me, and encouraged me to take some steps in what I hope is the right direction.
As always, Annie. You present us with much of worth to masticate and ruminate upon. Unfortunately, I can't help but reflect that if all human life on this planet is actually a coincidental fluke of random circumstance, then perhaps one of our greatest failings is to sincerely believe not just that our small acts of 'everyday heroics' may have some greater meaning in a cosmos so far more complex than our wildest imaginings may ever perceive, but the fact that our so-called 'human lives' are also as absolutely empty as an oxymoronic Zen koan.
As a non-believer, I nevertheless recognise the practical wisdom of such philosophical projections as the Buddhist concept of Darma, and feel that although life as we conceive it may be no more important than a mere release of equine exhaust in the vast emptiness of the Badlands, on a cosmic scale we should never fool ourselves into thinking that any of our subjective experiences matter in the least. If we (human beings) had the least horse sense (speaking of equine things), we'd all dutifully gallop over to the edge of the cliff face on which the Rushmore Memorial has been carved and throw ourselves off it like the good little human lemmings we seem to be.
Since that shall never come to pass, let's just enjoy whatever small pleasures and enrichments come our way by chance and not get ourselves too overly worked up with thoughts of 'small, but noble' acts and the simple sacrifices of ordinary living, such as you suggest TJ purposefully made. After all he was a rather extraordinary individual...and we are just simple lambs who have lost our way (baaah-baaah, baaah!). [I'm sure TJ would have loved to find his (non-religious) shepherd as much as any one of us.]
All that said, my maternal family had a family reunion in that region of SD you mention a few years ago and said gathering was also a primally charged experience, set amidst some of the starkest scenic beauty imaginable. If there is a Supreme Deity (just for the sake of the argument), the Badlands certainly would have to be His Cathedral of the Annunication...
Thanks for keeping our cerebral neurons in constant Brownian motion, Annie!
Mt. Rushmore is definitely on my bucket list. It’s funny, but I just watched the movie North by Northwest last night (one of my favorites) and thought about it again. My mom reminded me recently that my dad, who started a new job over an hour away from home in my senior year of high school, sacrificed greatly by making that extra drive for almost three years. He and my mom finally moved to the city where he worked after I got married and moved out. Sadly, I don’t remember ever thanking him while he was alive for making that sacrifice.
Good article thank you
Good article. You are always writing good stuff