Sunday, January 12, 2014

Serendipity Is My Friend

When I was in grad school, we did a lot of work with the Franfurt School realists. These were a group of Marxist philosophers that included the likes of Hanna Arendt, Kant and Walter Benjamin. IMHO, they were a mournful lot. I don't mean to dismiss the value of their work, I get it now. They were crushed by the failure of a utopian promise when the nature of man could not produce Marx's ideal. So, yes, they were sorrowful for that lost hope, and it is reflective in their writings where everything sucks, and the intent of man has little more to offer than a puss filled blister.

The realists seemed to lament their loss on epic levels, wallowing in a living stasis of regret for allowing hope to even enter their minds. These were the underlying themes I perceived when reading their works.

I've known people who embrace this sort of sorrow. It's a deep dark wound that defines who they are. I've seen the self loathing that comes from daring to believe in an ideal that is actually an abstract, something that is only real in theory. The mourning spawned from that kind of realization can be all-consuming, and thus ultimately defining of a persons perspective. Any other expectation in life becomes suspect, and hope seems but a fanciful illusion. For me, it's not a preferred way to live.

I like to hope. I like to dream. I like to visualize ideals even if they don't come true. I do these things because they provide me with a path, a general direction showing me where I ultimately want to go. And, it may sound touchy-feely, but I think that daring to hope, dream and visualize are the things that lead to serendipity, because subconsciously I am looking for those opportunities, and will be drawn to them even if I don't recognize them at the time.

I entitled this post, Serendipity Is My Friend, because I needed a reminder of  why hope is such a big part of who I am.  By working out the role of hope in my own life, I can see how it leads to my paths of fancy. I've often marveled at the serendipitous phenomena in my life. It would be wise to remember the notions that lead me to those events.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Send some serendipitious thoughts my way holmes. I too want to hope, fuller existance dream and visualize myself into a fuller existance. Your journey will always involve me and my journey will always involve u. Even across the universe.Cuz we're buds. Keep on blogging.