SEPTEMBER BLOG

Illustration by Miki Howenstein

Tough feeling so worn down

There must be the direct and immediate experience of living itself: we must directly see, feel, touch, manipulate, sing, dance, communicate before we can extract from the machine any further sustenance for life. If we are empty to begin with, the machine will only leave us emptier; if we are passive and powerless to begin with, the machine will only leave us more feeble. 


JR: Only life begets life. It is faulty thinking to believe that machines can give us life. This does not imply that machines are evil, but the concept does force us to question the foundation of our true sustenance. When we feel truly alive in our connections with other living beings, we deliberately choose the machines which further this aliveness, while understanding that other machines remove us from this life energy. Then, and only then, can we become capable of deciphering which machines truly serve life.


PP: Is there any machine that zaps you of life’s energy, or gives you a temporary high but, in the end, leaves you feeling drained or powerless? Consider getting rid of it.


PA: I myself love my gadgets and refuse to part with some of them. Yet, there are times when I get so trapped with them that I don’t get out into nature or do exercise (two things which I NEED to do to keep a semblance of sanity). For me, I’ve found keeping in contact with those far away (by email, skype, etc) is quite enlivening, as is reading many downloaded books on my kindle which fill me with great pleasure and inspiration. Doing a search for something and then getting stuck net-surfing with a lot of peripherals or other things that take me off course drains me, and I lose direction and power over my own course. This is but one example, and each person must find for himself that which infills you with life’s energy, and that which sucks it out.