Fraternal, Extraterral

DREAM - 26 April 2014: I wandered up and down stone stairs at UW-Madison, wanting a grassy spot for a picnic. All university buildings now connected, bridged one to the next with zigging, zagging steps & passage-ways. I walked onto a green and sat by a rectangular flower-bed to relax.

A mixed fraternity sorority crowd, usually classist & uppity, see me and surprise me by sitting down indian-sty...le all around me and the garden space. I'm baffled to notice I'm buff naked (how did this happen?), and so I try to be casual and pretend it's the most normal thing in the world. I take a long, dignified pull at a drink in my hand.

A girl sits down close and explains, `Hey, we saw you and couldn't pass you up. So why are you naked?`

`Well I don't really *know* ... you know?` I figure the honest approach has its cuteness.

She giggles.

`Do you know why you're dressed?` I ask, to the clapping approval of the entire group.

`No idea,` she answers. To my disconsolation, no one follows my lead.

We sit joking and talking, as I discreetly put on articles of clothing I pull from my rucksack. This way, I go from being naked to dressed without anyone noticing.

Right?

The girl and I go off for a stroll, up and down the zigzagging stairs. `Ever been this way before?` she asks me. We tiptoe down a very steep and roofed stair with lateral guards, me first, holding hard on the rails. Suddenly, the roof and railing end. It's now nothing but a bare stair falling like a ladder from the sky, high above the earth. I turn around and look at her, a bit sheepishly,

`I think we oughtta go back. Are there any safer stairs down?`

END OF DREAM

Come, I will cult-lead you

 

I'm writing an alliterating and rhyming manual on how to tutor. It incorporates holistic, libertarian pedagogy exercised on private land. Embark upon environmental, personal, higher-risk learning with ropes, pulleys, bowdrills, cliff-side & tree-branch recitations, oral tradition in blindfolds, manual rock transport, & multilingual water immersion. You will multi-task during all activities, shifting organically between interrelated skill-sets. You will be physically and mentally exposed to alternating environments and multidimensional situations. As you synergistically work, your physical, mental and spiritual health will grow supple, vibrant, adaptable, integrated, and non-assuming. Your educators and audience consist exclusively of bona fide friends. Each day will be summarised before sleep -- Symbolically, demonstratively re-enacted in front of a communal fire. Everything will be recorded, then dramatically re-staged in front of everyone at least twice. Nothing will be confidential. There will be no such thing as not offering your own opinion. All arrangements will be non-professional. All rights to safety and not falling in love will be waived.

You're Supposed to Be Overwhelmed

It seems like, whether it's God or 'the Universe' or 'Self', life itself is too much for everyone. Good, happy fortune will topple your equilibrium just as ruthlessly as bad fortune. And being in the middle will drive you nuts too. Each one is overwhelmed by fear, happiness, sadness, hope, disappointment. The best we can do is stop pretending we are ... alone. Being overwhelmed and overawed does not happen in isolation. Don't be snookered. You're not an autonomous, individualistic soldier.

Awe and Fainting

Dreamed I was at a banqueting table with long-missed friend, Eadweard. When I tried to embrace him he staggered backward in awe, shouting, `The Grace of the Lord Most High!` Then he fell flat to the ground. Amazed, I stooped, lifted him up saying, `No, it's just me` & tried to hug him to comfort. He stumbled backwards again, a look of overjoyed awe on his face. With hands raised he tumbled back to the ground. Again I lifted him up, tried to take his hand. It fell away trembling as we went around the whole long banquet table with him backing up shouting, `The Grace of the Lord Most High! The Grace of the Lord Most High!` {Dreamt 6 January 2014}

Past the Poles

We don't want women. We don't want men. We want interactive women and men.

We don't want hard workers. We don't want hard players. We want people of lasting intimacy.

We don't want vacation. We don't want overtime. Every hour is holy.

We don't want recreation. We don't want boredom. We want delight in each other's presence.

We don't want 0-tolerance. We don't want payback. We'll take things with a grain of salt.

We don't want Black. We don't want White. We want everything inbetween.

We don't want surface. We don't want varnish. We want everything underneath.

We don't want Victorian. We don't want skank. We want a giving lover.

We don't want silence. We don't want talk. We want bonding.

We don't want puritans. We don't want debauch. We want people making pleasure.

We don't want to conserve. We don't want to rebel. We want things that matter to last.

We don't want to compete. We don't want to stagnate. We want things that matter to last.

We don't want slavery. We don't want free. We want privacy to make moral choices.

We don't want war. We don't want peace. Our lives surpass your state.

We don't want life. We don't want death. We want you not to fear them.

We don't want to work. We don't want to retire. We want a life worth working and spending for.

We don't want Republicans. We don't want Democrats. We want our neighbours in office.

We don't want condemners. We don't want avoiders. We want leaders who face our face.

We want leaders who relate to people. We want governments who love the world.

We don't want Team A. We don't want Team B. Learn to play ball with F.

We don't want your goals. We don't want your data. We want your living soul.

We don't want security. We don't want control. We will risk the unexpected.

We don't want growth. We don't want markets. We want new seed every Spring.  

                        ~NpH