October is here, and it's treadmill season again. This morning, while marching up an endless incline, I received an interesting juxtaposition of music from the ol' MP3 random shuffle.First, Uprising by Muse.
Second, Come and Get Your Love, by Redbone.
If you know the songs, you'd probably think it might be somewhat jarring to segue from hard-driving V-for-Vendetta-style rebelling against the Man, right into a groovin' 70s Native American love-in.
Strangely, I found myself not being jarred at all. It kind of worked for me.
For the rest of the day, I wondered why. I'm still not sure if I have an answer, but I think it tells me that our yearning for love and our yearning for justice are related to one another very deeply. It tells me that Aleister Crowley's statement "Love is the law, love under Will" doesn't mean that love is a second-class emotion, under the thumb of one's intentional volition. Very much the opposite. Instead, I think it means that you can only have real love if you have the freedom to will it into existence. The freedom to say "yes" or "no" when it comes a-callin. But sometimes that freedom must be fought for.
This also reminds me, for the umpteenth time, of my dissatisfaction with Neil Peart's Clockwork Angels (both album and novel). I hate to belabor this point yet again, but it's hard to wrap my head around the idea that the author of 2112 -- a triumphant and tragic Uprising of its time -- has changed so much that he lets the bad guys go their merry way. I don't see the need for such a strict either-or, here. Turn the other cheek or be consumed by the dark side? Please... it's possible to fight for freedom and live a life of love.
I don't think the above contains any sparkling new insight on humanity and the world. "Cygnus: master of the bleedin' obvious." (Fawlty Towers quote) But it's not every day that the random music shuffle gets one thinking about such things. Might as well document it. :-)
Hey, don't be so quick to dismiss yourself, Captain Obvious. This:
ReplyDelete'It tells me that Aleister Crowley's statement "Love is the law, love under Will" doesn't mean that love is a second-class emotion, under the thumb of one's intentional volition. Very much the opposite'
is pure. And I really get what you mean this morning. Love is the untapped power in our universe, relegated to the back-burner by psychic bullies like Greed and Primacy and the illusion of separateness.
If you're not documenting these moments, you're depriving us. Soooo document.
The captain is saluting. Thanks.
DeleteI've been on a internal learning curve for several months now about love. It's more than what I used to think it is. More expansive, more robust, more... argh... even the word "more" doesn't convey it... it's like a 2D flatlander finally getting a glimpse of the 3rd dimension.
The mention of Aleister Crowley always makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteOld Crow was such a fascinating figure. I've read two long biographies of him in the past few years, and have been immersed in his spiritual writing for decades. He was a royal jerk in so many ways, but his mind went places that nobody else has since.
DeleteAs much as his stuff resonates with me, though, I still can't quite call myself a full-on devotee of his religion of Thelema. Maybe a lower-case-t thelemite, but not upper. :-)
'his mind went places that nobody else has since.'
DeleteSounds like a right challenge to me.
Many have tried!
DeleteSometimes the music shuffle puts the brain on shuffle and you make connections you never would have before.
ReplyDeleteThat's how it was for me this time, but usually it's the quieter moments that get my brain going. For work, it sometimes feels like I get more good ideas on the short walk from my office to my car than when sitting at my desk! :-)
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