AN INTERESTING FACT

From THE COSMIC SERPENT, DNA AND THE ORIGINS OF KNOWLEDGE, JEREMY NARBY, 1998, TARCHER/PUTNAM

There are 125 billion miles of DNA in a human body. Our personal DNA is long enough to wrap around the earth 5 million times.  

I was specially interest by this fact when I was rolling up some yarn after having divided it into two, and having hell of time with it. DNA DOES NOT GET ENTANGLED!

"The enzymes which both repair the double helix in case of damage and correct any errors in the DNA replication process make only one mistake in ten billion letters." 

So keep the wonder alive. It is what makes us human and keeps us marveling at this existence of ours!

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PAIN AND VIOLENCE

Lying in bed this morning, in pain from inflamed gums and teeth, wishing a bomb would drop on the dentist's office, wishing I were in the dentists chair when it happened, I understood the connection between pain and violence. My thoughts immediately went out to the criminals and mass murderers that we hear so very much about in the news lately. It is pain, psychic or physical, that makes us turn our rage outward and express it through violence. It is important to be aware of this fact, and then accept our suffering with open arms. For an explication of the last sentence, read my post MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING, VIKTOR FRANKL

THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING A HYPOCHONDRIAC

If you can change the worry around hypochondria to an anticipation and acceptance of the worst, you are cruising. An example: after a lifetime of  having no dental problems -- except the usually ones of cavities, root canals, crowns etc -- my mouth is suddenly blooming with pain. My dentist says I need one possible implant on the upper right, but at least three teeth on the lower side are inflamed enough to destroy my peace and turn me to pain killers. When this first started about a week ago, I was distraught. Having teeth extracted has always been a sign for me that old age is finally here. All during youth (I want to say 'so called' youth because I am uncertain, given the convoluted nature of time and the uncertainty about what it means and where it begins and ends) my nightmares revolved around losing teeth. Perhaps one way to define youth is by the illusion that teeth, at least, are permanent.

Lying in bed this morning my hypochondria made me go from losing one tooth to four to having cancer of the jaw (as our friend AK had and ended up losing a quarter of his face), losing my face then dying a horrible death. One can take only so much of torturing oneself with visions of the future before snapping, and I snapped into wisdom and acceptance. SO BE IT. I am not foolhardy enough to say COME, WORST, for fear of inviting it, but I want to be open to the worst in the same spirit of 'cavalry charge,' 'girding up my loins' and 'meeting it head on' that I talked about in my post yesterday. We all must perish and better to go meet this perishing bravely than whimper under the sheets.
 
One does not have to struggle to be wise, for time makes us so if we are open to replacing distraughtness with courage, which is one definition of wisdom.  

NOT WHAT TO DO WITH BUT HOW TO LIVE THE LIFE I HAVE

Sometimes I wonder what I am doing, posting all this motivational, self-help type of crap, instead of writing, or writing about writing, or posting my poems (which I also intend to do). But a deeper part of me knows, and knows well, that it is the inner workings of our psyches, the fine tuning of them with right thought that ensures right action, quality of life, well-being, joy and success. Success is not about how great and 'successful' -- materially, or in terms of renown and fame -- our lives are. It is not about who we are externally but how well we navigate the uncharted and often chaotic and even dangerous inner landscapes of our mind that determine how successful we are in taking full advantage of what we have been given to live and experience. And ultimately, the gift of life is life itself in its manifold experiences.

ONE DEFINITION OF RIGHT ATTITUDE

I have been dragging myself down by the weight of a necessary thing undone. I've finished my book and have been procrastinating on working on the proposal, necessary to send off to publishers. This isn't the only thing weighing me down, but many others practical, being-in-the-world chores. I found myself grumbling and whining about them yesterday. And then suddenly, everything changed with the words and determination to 'gird my loins and go to it.' Meet it head on. When I was in boarding school at Welhams in Dehra Dun, India, I was on the rugby team -- yes, rugby for girls. My team called me 'cavalry charge' because once I got the ball I made that inner switch in attitude that I wasn't going to let it go till I had reached my goal. That's what it is, a simple inner switch in attitude, a 'yes, I can and will' instead of 'no, I can't and won't' that makes all the difference. Once this switch is turned ON, believe me, the world and your life changes. I sat at my desk for five hours yesterday and feel in control of, instead of drowning in, paper.

ADVANTAGES # 3

Ongoing cogitations about the advantages of traveling: Perhaps the greatest advantage here is that in taking you out of the rut of the wonderful and constricting structure of your life, it reminds you of your mortality. There is exciting and frightening (notice dualities!) danger in every adventure, and it is the frightening part that is the most fruitful. Each time I leave for India, or fly anywhere, for that matter, I am reminded of plane crashes, hijackings. This is partly what makes me anxious before traveling, but it also reminds me of the inevitable (if not now, it is to come; if it is not to come, it is now. Readiness (or is it Ripeness?) is all, as Hamlet says). When I returned to America in Oct last year, I heard that our reclusive neighbor, Larry, had passed away. He lived alone, no one knew he had died for many days, I am told. He had no wife, no children, no friends, and the only indication of his existence was several cartons of empty wine bottles on each garbage day. (All the lonely people, where do they all come from? as the Beatles say). But Larry had the foresight to leave his multi-million dollar home to the San Diego zoo! That pleases me greatly!
The above example was a digression and had nothing to do with traveling, I know, but it does have to do with dying, which was what I was speaking about. Perhaps my point was that we are all travelers on this planet and we need to get our affairs in order periodically. So, in addition to all the other things I need to do before going away for 7 months is the task of making a will. I wouldn't want the state to get everything I own.

I am babbling and must get back to my tasks!

BLOGGING VERSUS JOURNALING

Since I have started blogging regularly (an audience to your narcissism helps!) I haven't journaled much. This is a mistake. Blogging and journaling are expressions of two different aspects of oneself. Journaling, unbothered with audience, goes far deeper and is more honest. It gives you more insight into the workings of your mysterious and ultimately unknowable soul (after all, it partakes of the mystery of the universe), insights essential for the ongoing business of HOW TO LIVE.