Thursday, October 14, 2010

You may say I'm a dreamer



The song I wanted, Judy Henske singing High Flying Bird, is not available on You Tube. The Monkees and John Stewart's Daydream Believer, was the "B" side playing in my mind. At least they mention a bird. And refer to believing in unlikely or impossible things. Well, too many impossible things have happened in my life for me to go along with the charade.

I hold the Puritan ethic wholly responsible (that and whatever brought it into being) for trying like hell to suck all the magic and lovely mystery out of the world. If I am a daydream believer, I cause no harm to anyone other than myself, should I be wrong. But so far (please trust me on this any doubting friends) there is too much empirical evidence to the contrary. How can there not be room for the unexplained or the unexpected when so much of our world is made of empty spaces, when nothing is really solid in the sense man once believed?

To remain open is not to count on, to expect magical answers but it leaves options for all that science has yet to discover, yet to prove. Science took us to the moon and it rescued the Chilean miners. I think it is just getting warmed up.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This story of the miners must be one of those archetypal rescue stories that capture

the souls of the entire planet.

When we can all agree and think and hope for the same thing.

And if we can do that,

well,

what else can we do as a group?

Artist and Geek said...

It is daydreaming, imagination and creativity that bring about the scientific discoveries that brought us to the moon, rescued the miners.

I'm almost disappointed when people attribute it to "luck" and "miracles". It was hope and faith that allowed the miners to mentally survive the unimaginable. But it was a beautifully executed thought out plan that allowed them to cope and be rescued.

We witnessed something great; what can happen when a government and its people care and act fast.

Elisabeth said...

It's what lies in the gaps that appeals to me, Marylinn.

I have just finished a book titled, 'Knowing,not knowing and sort of knowing'. I find I love the gaps, but perhaps not if I were a Chilean miner locked underground.

Thanks, Marylinn.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Denise - I agree that everyone rowing in the same direction makes an enormous difference. I think back to our disastrous post-Hurricane Katrina inability to put things right and remember our then-President refusing outside help. We are much greater than the sum of our parts.

Artist and Geek - I believe that caring is such a significant component of achieving something, especially if it appears impossible. Back to Katrina...while there were individuals and groups who truly cared to see a good outcome, at the highest levels I sensed only indifference, at best. All the parts that had to come together to reach the moon, or the miners, began with caring - and likely believing - that they could make it happen.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Elisabeth - Contemplating the gaps may be an activity we undertake when we are not under extraordinary stress. But then again, it may be under duress that we look for possibilities that may not be part of our ordinary reality. Your book, "Knowing, Not Knowing..." sounds like it allows room for us to consider that (a) there are no answers or (b) the answers exist in forms and places with which we are unfamiliar. Thank you.

Claire Beynon said...

Dear Marylinn - as always, there is so much here to contemplate. When we attribute equal weight and value to knowing and 'not-knowing', when we allow scientific rationale and intuition to work hand-in-hand and side-by-side (as they are, by nature, wont), so much more becomes possible. . .

I am frazzled over here (from life and various deep & as-yet undisclosable stresses - work is my boat at the moment, thank heavens for it) and needing to seek the spaces that make the 'much' bearable, possible, meaningful.

I can't write much at the moment, save to say that whatever it is Life offers up - whether in the situation of the Chilean miners' extraordinary survival and rescue - or any other context, big or small, the message for me remains the same. . . 'Stand in the heart. Stand in the heart. Stand in the heart. . . '

Love to you and my thanks for your words and your wisdom. Claire x

Robert the Skeptic said...

In my documentary, Dr. Micheal Shermer talks about where we get our sense of "spirituality". He gets his from science and learning how the world work, others find it in creativity or in how they see their relationships with others.

One of the fascinations in performing magic is in making it appear as though real "magic" is happening, that forces of time, space and physics are being transcended. It is perfectly rational to have this sense of awe and delight and appreciation... to me, these qualities make life fulfilling.

As Shermer says, Skeptics are not just a bunch of grumpy old guys complaining about the world; creativity, imagination and playfulness are the sources of true magic... and they are quite real.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Claire - I am, for you and a number of others in my life, standing in my heart. Undisclosable stresses does not have a pleasant ring, so work which keeps us focused, perhaps consumed, is a gift. And, as others have stated as well, science and intuition are much more partners or pieces of the same pie than practices at odds with each other. Thank you always for your words. xoxo

Marylinn Kelly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marylinn Kelly said...

Robert - I am so pleased you've commented on this. The sources of our spirituality are truly varied, dependent on what we value and believe. I have not yet seen your documentary and would like to hear Dr. Shermer. "Imagination and playfulness are the sources of true magic...and they are quite real." Thank you so much.

(Note: at Robert's blog, you will find a link to his documentary site, well worth visiting. And don't miss a short film of his granddaughter as she pursues a scientific investigation into the existence of fairies.)

Artist and Geek said...

Robert and Marylinn

I am paraphrasing because I cannot remember the exact quote:

It appears to be magic, until science proves it. (Arthur C. Clarke who imagined satellites and the space elevator).

When theoretical physics is coming up with multiverses who knows what else we'll discover

Marylinn Kelly said...

Artist and Geek - It is pondering these matters that produces the chemicals of happiness, as opposed to the less benevolent ones. We live in times of "Amazing Stories" and they are real, as Robert emphasizes. While I won't even try to pretend that my first pass through the new Stephen Hawking book has me fluent in quantum anything, I believe it is written so that a novice may begin to assimilate small portions at a time, building up to - one hopes - actual knowledge. It would be nice to understand some of the apparent magic on an intellectual, rather than a purely intuitive, level.

Artist and Geek said...

I couldn't agree more. For me science, art, creativity are all but pieces of the same puzzle.

I hope that one day they will find each other again.

As to Hawking, even post graduates do not fully comprehend all the equations. Physics appears to be the one field, where thought experiments are not fringe science.

Isn't everyone looking for the big theory of everything?

Artist and Geek said...

P.S. If science has taught me anything, it is that what I believed to be true yesterday, may be wrong tomorrow.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Artist and Geek - I would love to find a big theory for everything, or so I imagine. There probably is one and it is so simple we overlook or reject it. And I can, within the same day, believe completely opposing notions. Happily, consistency is a goal, not a requirement for membership.

And apropos of fringe science, will it come as any surprise that my favorite tv show is FRINGE? Not that you asked, just saying.