{"id":1059,"date":"2013-09-15T00:05:19","date_gmt":"2013-09-15T05:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2013-09-14T12:48:53","modified_gmt":"2013-09-14T17:48:53","slug":"poem-traveling-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/15\/poem-traveling-north\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Traveling North Still"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was traveling on a journey<\/span>
\nAnd it was definitely not south<\/span>
\nI watched the mile markers grow in number<\/span>
\nUntil I found myself in a different state<\/span>
\nNoticing that<\/span>
\nThe mile markers restarted<\/span>
\nAnd lo, it was different<\/span>
\nThough northern still<\/span>
\nThrough and through<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter what direction you are journeying, something will change. \u00a0What a joy to travel on a journey that is good (“definitely not south”) for a long enough time to see the proverbial mile markers rack up! \u00a0Nonetheless, at some point, things will transition to another state. \u00a0In this new state, the markers of progress along your journey will change. \u00a0This typically requires a recalibration of our thinking, a new start. \u00a0While most of us hope and pray for new starts, at least somewhere along the journey, new starts, even those viewed positively, require effort and some re-orientation to new conditions. \u00a0This poem addresses the issue of integrating new states and experiences into a coherent and positive larger journey, such is our life. \u00a0Faced with constant change, we can still keep our eye on the prize. \u00a0There are things in life that can be counted on. \u00a0Natural laws can be uncovered through science and meditation on the existential realities of humanity’s place in the world (that is, through physics and metaphysics). \u00a0There is a true north that transcends any human timeframe or temporal set of conditions (“states”). \u00a0Regardless, of if or how we think of true north it is still. \u00a0Perhaps most comforting, it can provide reliable beacons in which to frame and map our life in a coherent way, “through and through.” \u00a0Seeing our various journeys as a coherent AND positive story is somewhat trickier. \u00a0Given that most of reality is outside our control, that is, we can’t change it, can we view this “helplessness” as a positive thing? \u00a0I, for one, regard a persistent order to the world as a magnificently beneficial state of affairs. \u00a0On the other hand, that persistently elusive free will and subjectivity at the center of our being carves out a space as delicious as it is bewildering in which we get to reign ourselves into this world. \u00a0This is that space that is irreducibly ours. \u00a0We are free to act within it and act out into the world. \u00a0We have soul responsibility for these free acts, that is, that of which we have control, namely, ourselves (or at least that “part” of ourselves). \u00a0Since, this freedom seems to define what it means to be humans, many focus most of their attention to this aspect of our being. \u00a0These are the “way existential” people. \u00a0Many others just have a way overblown sense of what they are in control of! \u00a0Unfortunately, if one does not balance out their focus on freedom with an adequate understanding of the larger part of the universe, then their freedom will be running blindly, ignorantly into the rest of reality (that which we cannot change) with painful results. \u00a0By simply making note of those thing which stay the same regardless of what we do, we can avoid a lot of hurt. \u00a0Of course, teasing out the sometimes subtle differences between what we can change and what we cannot change is the stuff of wisdom. \u00a0This all rather succinctly captured in the serenity prayer:<\/p>\n

God grant me the serenity <\/em>
\nto accept the things I cannot change; <\/em>
\ncourage to change the things I can;<\/em>
\nand wisdom to know the difference.<\/em><\/p>\n

May you have the wisdom to make a difference, in your own life, and in the world around you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was traveling on a journey And it was definitely not south I watched the mile markers grow in number Until I found myself in a different state Noticing that The mile markers restarted And lo, it was different Though … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[400,397,341,198,411,338,115,65,410,388,305,408,79,157,359,54,306,413,658,94,254,585,601,409,390,412,531,186,275,529,487,389],"class_list":["post-1059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-balance","tag-change","tag-control","tag-courage","tag-existential","tag-free-will","tag-freedom","tag-god","tag-helplessness","tag-hope","tag-humanity","tag-journey","tag-joy","tag-law","tag-life","tag-meditation","tag-metaphysics","tag-physics","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-prayer","tag-progress","tag-reality","tag-responsibility","tag-science","tag-serenity","tag-soul","tag-state","tag-subjectivity","tag-time","tag-universe","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Traveling North Still | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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