A
friend and colleague is setting aside her once productive now exhaustive career
as an architect to pursue an embryonic yet evolving “World Peace” mission: whether the revelatory plan is more vision
than hallucination…hey, it’s often such a fine line. However, if one believes that the journey
itself is often equal to (if not more rewarding than) the destination, then she
is likely seeking, maybe even witnessing, her “Promised Land.” Or at least sensing and designing her own
“Post-Mid-Life-Pre-Senior (PMLPS) Calling!”
Shaking and Firing Up the Puzzle at Any
Age
Now
job boredom or burnout, or just a need for new challenge, is not uncommon in
this “Been there, done that,” Is this all there is?”, or “I can do more than
this” end of main career life demographic.
Many in the Mid-to-Early Senior (or, as I like to say, “Still Eager
Senior” – the SES bracket; a Washington/Fed insider joke ;-) experience what,
years ago, I dubbed the “Bjorn Bored Syndrome.” BBS was named for the ‘80s Swedish
tennis great, Bjorn Borg – who suddenly burnt out from the sport…and vanished
from the world stage: When Mastery x Monotony provides an index of
Misery!
At the time, my urging: Fireproof
your life with variety! (PMLPS,
SES, BBS…As many of you know, I’m a founding member of the 12-step AA
group: Acronyms/Alliterations Anonymous.)
And
maybe there’s more than just fireproofing.
Perhaps, paradoxically, one can go up in flames yet, Phoenix-like, rise
again, that is, exit a local arena and build your own world stage. Such a transformation becomes viable especially
if you have a powerful vision…combined with a passionate and compelling – “touched with fire” (thank you, Dr. Kaye Redfield Jamison) – presence and brand. Not surprisingly, this woman’s dynamic is
attracting followers. I, for one, (and,
actually, there is a “Team North America-Washington, DC”), was stirred by her
mind’s energy, daring, and wit. And her
courage to engage interpersonal-intimate issues that we often keep under wraps,
if not beneath the covers. (I need to
save the more specific nature of her vision for a Part II closing
punchline. Please be patient. ;-)
From Wit and Wisdom to…
I
think what helped win me over was a recent exchange: I had texted that for the New Year we are on
the “Yellow Brick Road…and we’re off to Oz.”
She responded pithily, “And what are you going to ask the Wizard”? My kind of gal: A wise
man and a wise guy! To quote yours
truly… (Feels like the equivalent of taking a “selfie”). Who knows…perhaps the basis of a creative
partnership!
For
she is a-muse-ing in both
aspects: has a sly sense of humor and is
providing fuel for a mind quick to recognize, play with, and synthesize a new
whole out of parts disparate and contradictory.
She’s enabling this Psychohumorist’s ™ dream/calling: To
infuse mirth and meaning into elements seemingly wandering aimlessly in the
creative ether. Or as pioneering
American humorist, Mark Twain, noted in more down to earth fashion: Wit is
the sudden marriage of ideas which before their union were not perceived to
have any relation.)
“Off to Be the Wizards”
So,
with a new source of inspiration, I can look old Dr. P straight in the
eye. A professor of mine, Dr. P, once
reminded me during my mentally meandering (okay, more like floundering)
doctoral student daze: “Mark, remember, the noun associated with the adjective productive is PRODUCT! Well, Dr.P…here
they are:
1) The
first “Wizard of Oz” lyric-takeoff is an offshoot of the aforementioned text
exchange. I need to/love to transform
external or conceptual surprise and my own resultant emotional intensity –
painful or joyful – into a
thought-provoking or fun essay or poetry piece…or both. In fact, grappling with emotional pain or
conceptual challenge, often sets the stage for the playful. As psychiatrist and student of humor, Dr.
Ernst Kris, observed: What was once feared and is now mastered, is
laughed at. And as the Stress Doc
inverted: What was once feared and is now laughed at, is no longer a master. And for good measure, also echoing my wise
man/wise guy sensibility: What was once feared and is now laughed
with…likely becomes a mistress or lover!”
;-)
Mandala on My Mind (Once Again)
2) The
second offering, to appear in Part II, is a bit more abstract. The poem is based on a recently designed Mandala
that was also inspired by my thinking anew about intimate connection. P.S. Almost forty years ago, it was the post-mystical-like
experience, unconscious creation of a Mandala (and obsession to make it my dissertation
topic) that ultimately led to my dropping out of the doctoral program. I call that creative…destructive period:
“When academic flashdancing whirled to a burnout tango!” Yet, in mystic-mythic-like fashion, this
vicious and virtuous cycle helped me find/design a new voice and
uncover/discover my calling. (This was
pre-mid-life; when it came to burnout, I guess I was precocious.)
So, to
capture this paradoxical process I will need Part II to provide some historical
context. In the meantime, here’s Wikipedia’s description of
“Mandala.” “A mandala (Sanskrit for
“magic circle”) is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism, representing the
universe. In common use, "mandala" has become a generic term for any
diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically
or symbolically; a microcosm of the universe.
The
basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle
with a center point. Mandalas often exhibit radial balance…It is used in a
variety of religions and philosophies, particularly Buddhism…In various
spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of
practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a
sacred space, and as an aid to meditation and trance induction.” Hopefully, this will whet your spiritual
appetite for now. Amen and women, to that!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We’re Off to Be The Wizards for Maggie’s Wonderful Cause
We’re off to be the
wizards
The Wizards of Maggie’s
Cause
You’ll find she is a whiz
of a wiz
If ever a wiz that was
This Woman of Peace is one because, because
Because of the wonderful things she does
We’re off to be the
wizards
The Wizards of Maggie’s Cause!...
If ever, if ever a wiz
there was
This Woman of Sex is one because, because
Because of the dynamic brain she has…
We’re off to be the
wizards
The Wizards of Maggie’s Cause!...
If ever, if ever a wiz
there was
This World Peace Woman is one because,
because
Because of the truly big heart she has…
We’re off to be the
wizards
The Wizards of Maggie’s Cause!...
If ever, if ever a wiz
there was
This So Awesome
Woman is one, because, because
Because of the newfound courage she has.
We’re off to be the
wizards
The Wizards of Maggie’s Cause!
Oh, we’re off to be the
wizards
The Wizards for Maggie’s Cause!...
© Mark Gorkin 2017
Shrink Rap ™ Productions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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