No more

Everyone dies. If we call approaching death "dying", then it would follow that we are all dying. Now for the Christian readers they would argue for rapture-related exceptions but for the sake of discussion today let's not go there.

Dying is rather significant (at least somewhat significant) - so what are we doing about it? Do we think about it? Are we aware - and have we come to grips with this reality? I fear our answers to such questions. I know for me (and I suspect most of us) death seems so distantly irrelevant. Which is sort of silly, we think so much about other upcoming events in our lives: getting a driver's license, becoming an adult, getting married, etc. What should death mean to us?

There's a inherent sadness that I experience as I ponder death. Certainly those religiously minded yearn for the "next life", but we all want to experience things on earth. I would like to grow personally, perhaps experience marriage, travel the world, learn a Bach cello suite, pee off a ridiculously tall tree, and the such. To think of losing those opportunities forever makes me sad. So we cling to life, and we cling hard.

Let us not forget what is worse than death, and that is watching others die. I have yet to experience the sorrow of having a close one pass away. But in terms of myself, even at my young age I have become aware of how mental capacity, physical health and ability quickly decline. There's such insecurity and fear in that - to imagine one's self losing power, ability and throughput. As I've watched my parents grow old I've seen this firsthand, and know should I live to be old I surely face the same.

But it doesn't end there. I do not regret thinking about death, because it helps me treasure life even more! That the sunlight upon my face feels that much more vibrant! The joy of laughing with a friend or enjoying the peacefulness of a quiet walk. The become so much more real, so much more valuable. So I am glad to have thought about physical death. I am glad for what you've taught me. Yet regret arises for I know I could have done more. I should have done more. This is why I will remember you, and what your short and simple life has taught me. Thank you Mr. Grasshead.

The author does not wish to portray any insensitivity to the death of loved ones. Rather just the contemplation upon the simple life and death of a plant. Well in this case a rather large number of plants. The author doesn't actually know how to refer to a single grass. He just says "there's some grass". I mean, some people use "blade", but that's in reference to the leaf structure, not the plant itself. "A grass" perhaps is most accurate, but I digress.
The author currently resides in Winnipeg, Canada and spends some of his free time practicing grass-revival techniques, mostly involving water.

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Contentment

Life is filled with all sorts of changes and experiences. I can ask all sorts of difficult questions trying to evaluate the past - should I have done X? Why did I leave Y? Did I ever consider Z?

This brings up the discipline of contentment. I just started a new job. Could my cubicle be nicer? Sure. Could it be worse? Again, sure. Could my salary be better or worse? Sure. I am not attempting to trivialize circumstances, rather I am challenged to consider what it means to seek contentment.


Ascetics and masochists aside, I do believe contentment is a good and important thing. However it is an incredibly variable thing. Some days I believe I need some very expensive item that is really snazzy and I will be content. Other times on a hot day, all it takes is to sit in some shade and enjoy some cool water.

What matters is one's standard for contentment. Person A can be content with a $10 bottle of wine, while person B cannot be content with less than a $100 bottle of wine. I personally think A is better off. Our society however pushes both person A and B to be discontent. To always crave something more, something better. But how much is enough? How is it possible that our society who gets the top 10% best water, food, shelter, clothing, technology, wealth, healthcare, etc still manages to be discontent and always craving for more?

Simplicity is a freedom. Contentment is a freedom. I for one would rather be content and free, than constantly craving and discontent. People talk about doing financial tip X or saving up for Y to improve one's standard of living. Here's a cheaper (but harder) tip - learn contentment. This brings up many other hard (but incredibly important) issues. If we're people who do wrong things, if we are spiritual beings, then we will crave a much deeper contentment. And that, is something only God (not I) can help you with.

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Arts: Film, Literature and Music

Great art can communicate before it is understood. -T.S. Eliot

I've had more time to explore these things these past weeks. We have the privilege of having easy access to film, literature and music like no generation before us. I have often taken this for granted, forgetting how these forms of art have power to inspire, impact, teach, entertain and allow you to experience such amazing things.

Here's some thoughts and tips that have been on my mind with regards to the arts.

High Art and Low Art

Often people differientiate between high art and low art. An example from music might be trying to compare Mozart and Britney Spears for example. I do concede that (and find it plainly obvious) that Britney and Mozart are on different levels of artistic music. However if we look at our lives, we see that both high art and low art are important. I love to listen to the classical masters, but that's not my bread and butter music. Shakespeare may indeed be beautiful and profound, but most of us need the simpler fiction for our dose of storytelling. A friend put it this way to me: high art is like those special lobster dinners - they're wonderful and special, but not what we live off of. Lets not forget the low art, our bread and butter.


Good Art and Bad Art

Although low art is important, this is different from bad art. Some might protest to this heading, that art is subjective and we cannot determine objectively whether art is good or bad. There is a standard though, if we consider God's example as the ultimate artist. Good art is good for you, bad art is bad for you. Some art reflects beauty, enlightens, or helps us grow as a person, and is good for us. Other art demoralizes, glorifies evil, reduces our humanity, and is bad for us. With the amount of art/media we get exposed to daily, its crucial that we are critical partakers. I'm mostly referring to TV here... lol.


Don't Buy New

Access to art doesn't require a lot of money. It can seem like it as movies often cost $20 and books aren't exactly cheap either. But unless you are super keen on it, or it has been very recently released, there really isn't a need to buy new. Cities have tons of great used book stores (Winnipeg's list), and many shops with used DVDs, CDs, etc. This helps give you exposure to the great classics out there too. Of the last 10 books I've bought, 9 were under $4 (a couple were $0.50), with the other being $7.


Don't Buy at All

Here's an even more obvious money saver. With books guess what, let me reintroduce you to a word most of us have forgotten since elementary school: library. Our tax money goes to pay for it, and for us Winnipeggers we have a really amazing newly renovated Millenium Library. This is the best way to try out a book without being sure if you'll like it. The books I have out: worth $30. Cost to me: nothing. There are somethings money can't buy, for everything else, there's mastercard.

Other great ideas are coming out like movie passes. I currently have one at Movie Village (in Osborne Village) where for $20 a month, I can always have 3 movies taken out and I can swap them as many times as I want. There's also many new mail order options that are very good as well.

The web has free stuff. Old classic writings are available free. For the musicians out there, the web has TONs of places to get free music, or very very cheap music. Here's the simple fact, virtually all classical music is public domain. The cost comes only from the editing and publishing. The web has really made so much more instantly accessible for almost no cost.

And last but not least: borrow and lend. I know, our materialistic society is very trophy-oriented. What I mean is that after doing X, we want to go out and buy something as our trophy/testament to doing X. Hence all the stupid T-shirts (I've been to the top of ________). You don't need the trophy, if the art was good for you then that is the most important thing. Also if you're tired of some of your stuff - why not give it away?


Variety is the Spice of Life

Embrace variety. There's so many genres and artists out there, why not try something new? We inherently love variety, but often because we fall into patterns where we stick to what we know. Make an effort to watch perhaps a historial movie, a documentary, sci-fi, anime, foreign, suspense, etc etc. Then one starts to realize how much great stuff there is out there. Use review sites and just pick out rated movies. I don't generally trust a single film critic, but I'm willing to listen if they're mostloy agreed on whether a film is great.

I think variety is most important for books. A lot of people desire to read more, so they pick a book and try to get through it. Then they get a bit bored or hit a lull and then kind of give up. Instead, I read so much more if I have 3-4 books on my shelf, and a bookmark in each. Then on a quiet evening I have a menu before me to choose from.

For the Christians out there I think this is a great way to add variety to reading the Bible. Reading cover to cover is tough (Leviticus will knock you down like nobody's business), rather I recommend this system:
-one bookmark starting from Genesis
-one bookmark in psalms (read a psalm a day)
-one bookmark starting in the major prophets (Isaiah)
-one bookmark starting in the Gospels (Matthew)
-one bookmark starting in the Epistles (Romans)
Its a nice way to get a cross section of the Bible and keep motivated.


So now what?

Go read a book! Listen/play some music! Watch a film! There's tons of other art out there besides simply literature, music, and film. Come to the Rodin Exhibition with me and check out some sculpture for example. Our workaholic society has a disregard for the quiet, stately enjoyment of art. In its busyness we forget we need art. We are creative beings and need oulets for that creativity, lest we let it die. Go get some, trust me - you'll be better off.

Love to hear about your thoughts/experiences. My friend was recently interviewed and shared some really good thoughts (Link).

More Resources

The web has plenty of offerings when it comes to art, check out what I've come across:
Movie Links
Music: Online radio, Sheet Music Sites
Literature: Sites with Ebooks online

Allan is Currently Tasting:
Books: Manufacturing Consent, Jan Wong's China, Discipleship, browse my libraryshelf
Music: Learning Schubert's (transcribed by Liszt) Der Muller und der Bach, Op. 25 No. 19
Film: Godfather I and II, Trois Coleurs: Bleu, Lawrence of Arabia

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