02 November 2014

Notes - Madeira Beach / Papa is an arthur

        Mid-morning. You were up for Paul’s breakfast and read the Sunday paper. The others headed down to John’s Pass for a walkabout before heading to Target for prescription meds for Brennan’s cough. You did thirty some minutes of exercises. Linda will arrive around eleven. The Gulf is much calmer today. When you arrived yesterday shortly after noon it looked like Atlantic waves on a stormy day; very turbulent but quite romantically pretty with the high white tipped waves shining in the sunlight in the quite brisk chilly north wind. 

         Yesterday when Kim, Paul and the boys drove to Linda and Bill’s from the airport they were met with Bill’s Halloween fare of tricks and treats in the front yard. Also, they took a tour, as you had, of the backyard, which won a Tampa Garden award last week (on the local news with photos and an interview with Bill). Most everything growing in his back and side yards is native to Key West. In fact, sitting in the swing in the back is like sitting in Key West. On the way to Madeira Beach after crossing the Gandy Bridge, following tradition, you stopped at the old 1950’s Crab Shack for lunch. - Amorella

         1029 hours. Bill’s yard is most awesome. Sitting in the backyard is like sitting at a bit compacted Hemingway’s yard at Key West or more like the back yard of one of the homes on a side street off Duval – cool, laid back thoughts and memories herein invoked. The Gulf has a varied greenish cast this morning, few white caps. From the balcony it is what one might see looking out at Lake Erie – Linda just called, she and Bill are meeting us at eleven thirty at the Conch Republic. The others just returned.


         You discovered an interesting article on page 5P in the Sunday Tampa Bay Times titled, “Perspective: Things don’t occur for a reason” by Konika Banerjee and Paul Bloom. Banerjee is a graduate student and Bloom is her professor of psychology at Yale. Post. - Amorella


         1618 hours. Here are some excerpts from the article.

** **

           . . . “Unsurprisingly, a majority of religious believers said they thought that [these] events happened for a reason and that they had been purposefully designed (presumably by God). But many atheists did so as well, and a majority of atheists in a related study also said that they believed in fate – defined as the view that life events happen for a reason and that there is an underlying order to life that determines how events turn out.

            These atheists’ responses weren’t just the product of living in America’s highly religious society. Research done at Queen’s University in Belfast by the psychologists Bethany Heywood and Jesse Bering found that British atheists were just as likely as American atheists to believe that their life events had underlying purposes, even though Britain is far less religious than America. . . .

            This tendency to see meaning in life events seems to reflect a more general aspect of human nature: our powerful drive to reason serves us well because it helps us figure out why people behave as they do and to respond appropriately. But it can lead us into error when we overextend it, causing us to infer psychological states even when none exist. This fosters the illusion that the world itself is full of purpose and design. . . .

            Whatever the origin of our belief in life’s meaning, it might seem to be a blessing. Some people find it reassuring to think that there really are no accidents, that what happens to us – including the most terrible of events – reflects an unfolding plan. . . .

            Even those who are devout should agree, at least here on Earth, things just don’t naturally work out so that people get what they deserve. If there is such a thing as divine justice or karmic retribution, the world we live in is not the place to find it. Instead, the events of human life unfold in a fair and just manner only when individuals and society work hard to make this happen. We should resist our natural urge to think otherwise.”

From – Konica Banerjee and Paul Bloom. Tampa Bay Times, “Perspective: Things don’t occur for a reason,” p. 5P, Sunday, November 2, 2014

** **

         You fervently believe that this sort of scientific hypothesis is closer to the truth in the world than any other. This is the main reason why you once believed that your ‘seeing aspects of Angelic manifestation’ early in your life or later or both was accidently. You would swear this is a sense of ‘accident’ is true in a court of law or metaphysical circumstance. – Amorella

         1649 hours. Yes, if the angelic-like presence was real or imagination, either way it was accidently. That is, I opened a door expecting to find nothing and something was there instead so I shut the door, as I was being impolite and rude. That is the way I look at the experience. It makes no difference really because for a short time in 1987-88 my actions were that the Angelic Presence was real. The surprise and shock still exists that I thought it was real, that is the underlying psychological state I have the difficulty with. I think the Merlyn stories are an amends to my sense of self. I made a mistake and am attempting to make an interesting and readable story from it. Thankfully no one has bought a copy as far as I am aware. I like the invisibility right out in the open. Very funny. I would just as soon nobody buy a copy. How cool would that be, have a book out there, and eventually a series, and not one buyer. I imagine though I will eventually have one, and what would be the irony if it were accidental. This is an example that fits my sense of humor. While I have my doubts on many things in this world, dark humor is something I do not doubt, because I have an example of it. Humor gives me all the element of meaning I need about life, the world and the universe and perhaps even the beyond.

         Owen just came in and said, “Why are you in here [the bedroom writing]?” and you said, “I am a writer.” He immediately went to his father on the balcony and said, “Papa is an arthur.” So there's more humor for you. Post. - Amorella


No comments:

Post a Comment