The Unknowns
An Infinite Trip
A pandemic video in a loverly old space.
a perspective after 65 years of waking to this consciousness not much has changed for me immersed in constant change i still don't know what's going on i do understand the agreed upon rules needed to survive outside forces and one another in the hope we'll discover who-what we are and ultimately why we are here with this limited ability to know we know nothing and we're doomed to disappear shortly so we keep trying to investigate dig up and follow the clues analyze everything our senses allow we've cataloged learned much but no conclusions of origin or intent we have theories religions philosophies to soothe our anxious fears but no clear pathway to connect the dots no message no story no science for myth no determinations of why we're here stumbling along squinting into the light and dark of it constantly feeding ducking laughing fucking and burying those who die each morning we wake and wade into the day our routine of chores that system of habits to help us ignore the monumental weight of what we don't know dumbo the elephant in every room we toss peanuts to joking about it weeping on the sofa in peekaboo tutu humor staves off those tsunamis of panic loneliness and depression almost as well as intimacy tenderness focused caress pulling skin within again unconscious creations extending ourselves into and out of one another variations on the mystery it's probably a trick of the obsessive mind but i feel i remember always being aware of this since i was a kid feeling like both a god and an ant in the universe Houdini tied to a piece of glass in a tumbling kaleidoscope of cognitive dissonant designs queer sparks quarks another idea i can't describe small fish big ponds a speck in the eye of dog nothing gained and everything lost the only comfort i've found this belief that all is perfect because it is and i am here now scratching this down and you are reading yourself into it maybe that's not you or maybe you are me maybe we combine somehow separately who knows anything about before or beyond that's the can we keep kicking down the road insanity is our word for beating one's head against the wall into infinity while animals pay attention tuned to each breath follow their senses to stay alive until death Mark Gibbons
Took a weeklong trip west to see family and friends, visited our son in Seattle, so we just got back home. It was a delightful journey in every way which made it pretty special. We drove from Missoula to Portland and visited family for a couple days, traveled west along the Washington side of the Columbia River and saw old friends who’d moved out there eight years ago. We’d never been there so it was all new to us. Then we stopped in Seattle to catch a Seattle Town Hall discussion of the Netflix documentary, Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, with the film’s director Anjali Nayar and Dr. Sean Gibbons, science consultant for the film. Professor and director of the Gibbons Lab at ISB, (our son) Sean and Anjali had met years back at a conference and discussed the idea of a film about the important role the human gut microbiome plays in our health. So after the huge success of the film, we were lucky to be on our trip at the same time ISB hosted this Town Hall event with Sean and Anjali moderated by ISB president, Dr. Jim Heath. It was both enlightening and entertaining. If you have time to check it out, this film is an introduction to the future of medicine.
In talking with Sean after the event, I was reminded of why I believe science has shown us again and again how ineffective religion is as a guiding philosophy for humankind today. Science acknowledges the unknowns, the mysteries we can’t answer, but it denies the Powers given to our old stories, our myths that for generations sustained us and assured us that there would be an answer a revelation after death—Magical Thinking. Joseph Campbell, my own personal hero of mythology, stated in Bill Moyers’ The Power of Myth, that our religions have for the most part failed to adapt to the changes we’ve learned. Nothing is static in life, yet religious conservatism has reinforced the idea that all truth will be revealed upon death to appease our fear of death, the unknown. We made those stories not only to help reassure and comfort us in our deaths, but also to govern societies. Campbell who identified as a Christian believed Heaven and Hell were right here with us while we are alive. He didn’t pretend to know what happens after we die. To hold onto ideas centuries old that might pit us against one another makes no sense. Cooperation and continued investigation make the most sense, and since we can’t know our before or after, the only thing to do is live right now, make the most of this experience. And nothing makes more sense than kindness for all of us. We’re all in the same boat. No one gets out alive or takes there accumulated crap with them. Love is the best we’ll ever get.
One thing a trip will do for you is open you up to new things mile after mile. It’s good for us to get out of our comfort zones once in awhile and be open to new experiences. Even if it’s merely the impulse is to visit “old friends.” Life is full of surprises if you get off your ass and put yourself out there. And you never have to go too far to find that. It might be found next door. Today. Peace.
The Ambiguity of Symbolism We often choose symbols to convey how we feel, as if they work better than words. Hearts, flags, smiley faces, rainbows, skulls and crossbones, can do the job! They send a message we want to express. Of course we receive what we want to hear, and the sender's intent behind their choice isn't always clear. Do we really believe it will communicate what we want to say, demonstrate what we think behind a mask? Do we even care? Or do we just enjoy poking the bear? Fanning the flames of assumption and fear? One woman's decal of peace and love is another man's flag for anger and hate. Old Glory comes to mind, a swastika, a gun, a fish, Christ on a stick—cocky and lazy—loaded brands expand culture wars, symbolic fuses lit. Talk is weak but the only path to peace, so listen, clarify, try to agree—write, speak. Mark Gibbons