Feb 19 2014

Paul Williams

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Clarity, Faith, Gratitude, Guides

I DON’T UNDERSTAND

I DON’T UNDERSTAND

 

I don’t understand electricity. I use it anyway. Every day.  My ignorance has little effect on the value of the voltage.

Recently, on late night radio, I heard that a light bulb isn’t really a constant light. It’s something like 60 flashes Per second. We see it as a constant.   I did a little research and found this.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/solar-at-home/2011/08/18/how-optical-illusions-can-build-a-better-bulb/

Okay.  Got it.

Not really. It’s fascinating but, a little above my pay grade.

It’s information that sent me racing down the information highway though because of an old concern.  I sometimes wondered how the brain receives digital music. I had this theory. Putting all those little mini bites of data together for us to perceive a single tone or note seems like an awful lot of work.  I wondered if it would eventually prove exhausting.

“Damn, I’m too tired to get outta bed Ma!  Listened to the whole album last night and I’m exhausted.”

This distress will be unexpected from someone who makes a living in the brave new world of digital music.  I found a couple of articles that gave me pause including this one from 2007.

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/08/mp3-music-no-longer-connected-to-your-brain/

Hopefully things have changed.  The new cyber delivery systems are offering better and better sound quality and all is well if you listen at a decent volume.

If you clicked on the links and spent any amount of time learning about bits, cyber technology or the light bulb illusion, welcome back.  I hope you’re not too tired to read on.

The hours spent chasing and absorbing all this information is proof of my point.  You may have been wondering when I’d get around to making it.  I don’t always need to understand. I do really well appreciating but not understanding things that make my life better on a daily basis. I don’t need to know.  Especially when the price in time is getting higher and higher the older I get.

The wealth of information available at my fingertips requires a new discipline. Can I pocket my iPhone and remain in the moment when someone asks a question I know I can find the answer to?  Can I withstand the excessive curiosity?  Not to mention ego.   When someone at the dinner table wonders who wrote “100 years of Solitude” and I can’t remember Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s name can I simply say “I don’t know” or do I have to look it up? That’s actually a terrible example because everyone should know Marquez’s name

Living in the digital age is sometimes a juggling act.  When to pursue and when to let go.  For me there’s proof beyond electricity and automobile engines that I can use, enjoy, employ and benefit without really knowing how or why something works.

Years ago Tracey gave me a Ganesh, the elephant headed Hindu god.  I treasure him.   He’s a tiny little fellow that I travel with.  I knew next to nothing about his story or place in the Hindu practices but soon discovered that whispering in his ear was a form of prayer.   My Higher Power isn’t jealous so I began to whisper.   “Ganesh, it would be wonderful if … etc. etc. etc., and always “This or something better for the highest good of all.”

Don’t know how.  Don’t know why. But, Ganesh works for me.   I’ve done a little reading to better understand the story of Ganesha but I’m happy to say that at my most ignorant, my faith-fueled prayers are often answered. That’s enough for me.

I have always accused Tracey of being the spiritual deli’s most enthusiastic customer.  She’s investigated, learned and successfully practiced almost every imaginable faith.   Her “Amen Arsenal” is monumental and she backs it up with real knowledge.     While I admire her devotional energy and level of understanding I’m going to probably continue to slide by.

I’m famous for saying that “Every day is a gift.”  I believe that with all my heart.   I love the path I’m walking and when a sweet surprise plops into my hands, I accept it with deep gratitude.   I bow my head, mumble a sincere “Namaste” and sometimes whisper.  “I don’t understand.  But, I’ll take it.”

Life is good. May the days pass slowly in gratitude and trust.

 

 

 

Paul Williams

Paul Williams is a singer, songwriter, actor, recovery advocate and has been a fixture on the American cultural scene since the seventies. His book Gratitude and Trust is now available.