DragonFlight

What’s really important to me is to know if I’m the only one that detects a sense of insanity in the media coverage of the latest revelations in the JonBenet Ramsey case? Approximately one week ago John Karr confessed to the murder of the little girl approximately 10 years ago. For the last three nights I’ve seen very little else reported on the major cable TV stations. I was feverishly clicking the remote, hoping to get an update on any of the various big stories that have been playing in the nation and world, and was chagrined to find that the Karr story was the only one running.

Most puzzling, the ongoing story includes little information, nothing new or of real interest, and nothing truly pertinent to the arrest:

• John Karr confesses
• John Karr is escorted to the US, and eats and drinks well
• John Karr agrees to be extradited to Boulder, Colorado
• John Karr’s lawyer introduces herself
• “we await further action�
• constant rehashing of the original JonBenet Ramsey murder case

You would think with this huge news focus for the past week there would be something new to report each day and hour, but this is not the case. Incessantly, on different networks and on various shows on the same networks we witness the same identical information spun by various personalities.

It’s absolutely monopolizing the news. There is hardly any word about Iraq, or Lebanon or Israel. There is no daily information on what became of the London terrorist arrests or much on the November Congressional campaigns.

Is it possible the media is not capable of handling more than one story at a time, that until one story plays out entirely there can only be sidebars on other much more important events in the world? It’s particularly amusing when news commentators question all the attention such a story gets, while they themselves continue to cover it.

There is also all the conjecture on why the case seems stalled, and things aren’t moving faster. I suspect due process is taking place at its usual pace, and such questions arise only because news commentators (or is that news makers) are impatient there is nothing new to report. Perhaps this would cease if coverage of the story discontinued until there was something new to say?

I often wonder if the present “Big Story� is just another diversion from what is really important. It appears that each time there are real issues of importance like Iran and it’s uranium enrichment program, or the unsteady cease fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, or a Federal District Court declaring the NSA wire tapping program by the administration unconstitutional, some lesser but more sensational story magically appears and moves to the forefront blocking out all other news.

It seems rather suspicious when it occurs so often. There was an interesting segment on MSNBC’s Countdown called Terror and Politics.
It discusses several terrorist alerts which all strangely coincided with important news events, and appeared just in time to divert the focus from those events to some alleged terrorist threat. Ironically none of the threats proved to be real.

I have to admit that the present Karr/Ramsey story appears as whimsical as Alice in Wonderland. You have John Karr confessing to a murder he was investigated for shortly by Sonoma County several years ago and not arrested. He claims to have murdered her on Christmas Day while his ex-wife says he was with his family over 1000 miles away. We are now told the only DNA evidence is contaminated, but not how or why. Karr claims he drugged the little girl, but the coroner's report showed no drugs in her system. He says he knew the family, but Patsy Ramsey’s sister claims the family didn’t know him. Yet in spite of all these contradictions the media continues coverage of this story 24/7 with a fervor that must surely convince us it’s the only newsworthy story in the world.

Of course I could be wrong. After weeks of war presented like a made for TV war flick, and continual political strife which has become an endless war onto itself, we might just need relief. It might not matter there is really nothing to report so long as we can obsess on anything different. We have become a nation that must be entertained, and what is more entertaining than something that may not really be necessary?

Oops gotta run for some late breaking news. John Karr’s plane is landing in Colorado. I can’t wait to hear all about how it took off, flew and then landed. If I get real lucky I might hear what Karr had to eat, what clothes he wore and what size the tires were on the plane!

Posted by Stephen at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

What is really important to me is having peace of mind and a sense of security. I would like to go to sleep at night with a clear and restful mind, one that is not a morass of grave fears and anger over the state of the things, or full of anxiety that the world is out of control and me along with it.

I remember a time when my worst anxieties were about figuring out what my personal goals might be, and how and if I would meet them. I may have fretted over the perfect job or relationship, whether to buy that stereo I coveted, or a new car. I might have stressed over the Giant’s chances of getting into the World Series, the USA doing well in the summer Olympics, or that old stock going up a few dollars. I may have mulled over whether I could afford to take a trip to the Bahamas, bask in the sun and enjoy scuba diving in the clear bluish waters over a sprawling coral reef. I can think of a thousand such things.

I recall when finding myself spiritually was a major goal; pondering for the first time that I might actually be a spirit in a body, living many lifetimes, not just one. I didn’t know, but the idea was as intriguing as no longer needing to define myself as the meatsuit (physical body) and ego I’d come to believe were all that I am.

It was uplifting to believe in more than a universe created by chaos and destined to chance. I never identified with any religion, but recall when I read the teachings of Jesus and the exploits of Gandhi, realizing the profound potential in surrendering to love and faith. I pondered over life working for us, not against us if only we would allow ourselves to not be immersed in fear. It was empowering to believe that we were a race destined for greater things than was obvious from a history largely defined by fear, avarice and conquest.

True, I had grown up during the Cold War with a Nike base just up the road, and we periodically did the hide-under-the-desk drill in school (as if that would be protection against a thermonuclear explosion) but I never really believed war would happen. It seemed absolutely insane that our race would be stupid enough to start a battle where everyone would lose.

In those days I slept more soundly. The message put forward, even by our government, seemed always full of optimism and the promise of a brighter future. The wars to end all wars were over, mankind would learn from the mistakes of the past, build a safer and more secure world, cure all disease, feed the hungry, and resolve the differences between nations. I admit that all sounds a bit pollyanna-ish and I plead guilty to terminal optimism.

I was filled with hope, vision and relative peace of mind that all was as it should be, and the world was moving slowly forward toward peace and harmony, and not backward toward our brutish Neanderthal roots. The only real anxiety under which I labored was the doubt about my ability to realize my own potential and not screw up.

That was all yesterday. Today I face the challenge of regaining lost innocence in a world that has fostered and seemingly encouraged cynicism, pessimism and insecurity in the guise of fear in all its many manifestations. I know I’m not alone in this regard.

The start of the 21st Century, instead of fostering the epitome of our hopes, has turned into a nightmare in which we are being constantly reminded of all there is to fear. We may need to hone our perceptions, awaken our gut feelings and stir up our intellect. We need to learn to discern truth from falsehood, and reality from misconception. It is possible that we are being manipulated and controlled 24/7 in the media and by governments that many of us no longer fully trust. What we need to discover is if that is so, why, and how to put a stop to it.

The world belongs to us, not our governments or our business conglomerates, but to “we the people.� I believe this ideal has become seriously lost and forgotten. Are we allowing ourselves to be manipulated by the constant threat of fear from both within and without? Benjamin Franklin quite astutely warned us with “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.� If this is true, are we as a people in danger of finding out the hard way?

There are many things that now bother me:

• the continual human predilection for fear, violence and war
• a War on Terrorism which seems akin to trying to declare war on hate
• the readiness with which so many will sacrifice their liberties and freedom for security
• rampant intolerance and bigotry in so many people of faith
• the denial of global warming
• large deficits, huge national debt, and the selling of America by outsourcing of jobs and borrowing foreign money to supply tax cuts (mainly to those in no need of them) during a time of war
• the high price of gas coinciding with the huge profits being reaped by the Petroleum Industry, also in a time of war
• the new credo in business that seems to believe “its okay to screw people as long as its technically legal or you don’t get caught�

I will write about some or all of these things and many others in future blogs. It is my hope that readers will join me with their comments so we create an open dialogue. I expect the views I share will resonate with some, and not with others, and that’s okay. Hopefully we will agree to disagree.

What’s really important is that there is debate and time to question.

Posted by Stephen at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

What was important to me a week ago was naming this blog. Having just been told of the need to do so and being clueless, I decided there was something even more important to be done, a short trip to the pool to get in some laps. Why do now what you can put off till later? Little did I know that during this undertaking the name would literally appear out of thin air.

I’m rather a stickler when it comes to lap swimming; I don’t like to be disturbed. I start and finish without interruption, getting into a stride that loosens up the muscles, creates a breathing rhythm, and most importantly, gets it done. Normally it takes almost twenty laps to hit this stride, so those are the hardest.

On lap fifteen of what I had planned to be maybe forty-four or fifty-four, I encountered the worse case scenario. Lying in my path at the deep end was a dragonfly in the water. I’m a sucker for trying to save a life, no matter how small. I only draw the line at mosquitoes or really pesky flies. I even carry spiders safely out of the house.

I’m the one you will see at the pool with a tiny flying “something� on a finger or hand blowing on it to dry it off. I know this may seem like a stupid affectation to some, but I can’t help myself. I keep thinking about all the time and effort put into the laying of eggs, and the long haul from basic survival to a winged creature. Sometimes this includes complete metamorphosis, that awesome process in which an egg develops into a caterpillar, which becomes an encapsulated pupa from which emerges the beautiful butterfly, as different from the caterpillar as Quasimodo was from La Esmerelda.

The dragonfly goes through a partial metamorphosis, leaving out the pupa stage, but still ends up as an adult which in no way resembles the larval stage. It seems rather crass to not at least attempt to aid a creature that has gone through so much to survive. At least that’s my logic and I’m stuck with it, and that’s okay.

So there I was on lap fifteen, and here was this really neat critter totally waterlogged, wings pasted together, lying on its side slowly drowning. I must admit I did give it a few seconds of thought as I approached. The noise was reverberating in my head something like this: “should save, don’t want to stop, it will drown, can’t stop, wonderful little creature, don’t stop, SAVE THE DRAGONFLY STUPID!� Guess which voice won?

Segue to next take. There I am, arms on the side of pool, with a wilted dragonfly attached to my finger, the only thing it would hold on to. I had attempted to lay its legs down on the concrete, but it insisted on falling over. I blew on the wings but they remained stuck together. This was not going to be a quick fix. I was doomed. I had to stop swimming. Oh cruel world! The horror of breaking a fixed pattern! Why me?

The next half hour witnessed me alternating between blowing, cajoling, praying, begging, and sometimes cursing, but mostly holding my finger up while this fragile creature slowly dried (no, not “that� finger). After awhile I delicately parted two of the four wings, and eventually all four. This required gentleness and patience; I would have been devastated to pull a wing off and face having to put out of its misery that which I was so determined to save.

A wonderful thing occurred while all this was taking place. A very tiny dragonfly landed on the back of the one I held. It was obviously a different species, smaller by at least three quarters, and a brilliant blue, whereas mine was a greenish yellow. This new player in our little drama sat there for maybe a minute or two and then flew off. I certainly don’t understand the normal habits of such insects, but I’d never seen two dragonflies of different species interact in this way. It seemed important, perhaps a sign (of what I had no clue) but there it was. It got my attention.

After another five minutes my dragonfly seemed dry and able to stand, but was doing nothing. What to do? It was time to move on. I got out of the pool and placed the dragonfly on a blue tarp that was rolled up, laying in the shade by the fence. It just stood there, wings spread but not doing anything. This was at least an improvement, so I left it and started my laps once again. Yes, starting with lap one.

Back and forth I swam, and on every other lap I was able to see the tarp and make sure it was still in the shade. My heart sank at one point when I saw a kid perhaps nine sit on a bench nearby. I didn’t trust what he might do if he spotted my charge, but I swam on, hoping for the best. One can only do so much.

After a half hour or so, I left the pool and went over to check out the situation. I was both relieved and chagrined. My little buddy was still there. That was good. It just lay there lifelessly. That was not so good. I touched it with my finger, and sure enough it attached itself to me once again. It was alive. YES!

I went over to a chair and sat with it in the sun, thinking maybe it wasn’t dry enough. It showed no inclination to fly or leave. Again I blew on it lightly a few times, and it fluttered, but stayed glued to the spot. Just as I was thinking I might have to adopt it, I had the urge to stroke the back of its abdomen gently. I’m not sure why I did that, but it was magical; suddenly the wings began to flap wildly and my dragonfly took off into the air and flew away. I was elated!

So what does this have to do with naming my blog? My intuition told me I had found the name I sought, without having had to think about it at all. At first I thought DragonFly, but then I envisioned it soaring off up into the sky and knew it should be DragonFlight. I’ve always loved the idea of dragons, those mythological creatures of great power and intelligence, free and unburdened, masters of their own fate.

I had taken the chance of following my heart, while my head wanted to remain committed to pattern and convenience. In so doing I had saved one small life and I lifted myself out of minor stagnation. I grew a bit larger, realizing what I think is important one moment can turn out to be nothing in the next. And ironically I was given another gift, the name for this blog.

Surely there are two kinds of death; the one we all know and recognize, and the one that comes when we refuse to change, causing us to slowly wither on the vine of monotony and all the roads not taken. Perhaps we all need to revisit our freedom to choose, and choose often. When we don’t, we risk falling into the certain oblivion of sameness, where our perceptions of the world never alter. We all need to discover for ourselves in every moment what is really important.

Posted by Stephen at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)