Face of Consciousness

Welcome to a poetic and philosophic blog about the struggles of life and relationship.

“The ambiguity of life exists in every creative process. In every creative process of life, a destructive trend is implied; in every integrating process of life, a disintegrating trend; in every process toward the sublime, a profanizing trend.”(Paul Tillich, Ph.D., from The Meaning of Health, 1981)

Life cannot exist without the essential possibility and existential reality of death. Life is impossible without the daily, chaotic struggle against death... against the unremitting threat of entropy and nothingness. As Tillich again informs us, “Life must risk itself daily in order to win itself, but in the risking it may lose itself. A life which does not risk death--even in the highest forms of the life of the spirit--is a life poorly lived." This willingness to risk ourselves for greater life is the key that opens the door to the wellspring of creativity deep inside of us... that wellspring of transformative vitality that propels us through the struggle of death into the richness and renewal of new life.

"Creativity is 'the elixir of life' that heals and transforms life. Through the creative process we enter that 'sacred place,' that zone of evolution where the world lights up to itself as we light up to the world. It is here, in that 'holiest of holy' places that we are reunited with the waters of the wellspring of creativity, The Source of the 'River of Life' from which all creative energy and vitality issue forth to be manifested as new life. Through every creative act, life fulfills itself. Through every creative act, we transcend the mortality of our separate ego-self of I and enter into the realm of immortality to become one with our contextual self as Thou, as a self-realized collaborator in creation. Through creativity, we are delivered from the chaos of illness into the dynamic order of new life."

(P. Donovan & Herb Joiner Bey from The Face of Consciousness, 2006)

Please join me on this courageous venture of life and "enter into the realm of immortality," the realm of dialogue and relationship by poetically sharing with this community, your struggles to live... to "nullify the unremitting recurrences of death" through the continuous recurrence of birth. Through dialogue and relationship, the Face of consciousness is seen, recognized and witnessed. It is your Face, my Face, the Face of all life, the Face of our God. Thank you, Patrick.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Cultural Autism and Intimacy Deficiency Disorder (IDD)

There is a fulminating deficiency disorder that is festering at the heart of our “high-tech” Western culture… lack of deep, intimate and profound relating with one another.

According to latest statistics, approximately 70% of American cell phone users send at least 1 or more text messages every single day. More often than we would like, those messages are sent while driving or walking in a public place or in the presence of friends and family. This level was reached by the UK four years ago. Irish telecoms regulator reports an average of 5 messages sent per day across the whole subscriber base. UK reports 6. South Korea reports 10. Singapore reports 12 text messages and the Philippines report 15 text messages sent per day on average across the total subscriber base. There are over 250 million active users of Facebook with more than 120 million users logging on to Facebook at least once each day. More than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide). According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day (more than 52 days of nonstop TV-watching per year). Forty percent of Americans always or often watch television while eating dinner, missing one of the best opportunities for a family to share in intimate conversation.

Where is the organic intimacy and deep connectedness established and nurtured by the sharing of meaningful facial expressions, body language, verbal intonations, scents, pheromones, and the preciousness of a gentle touch or caress? Are they fading away in the distant memory of the human psyche replaced by the cultural autism and intimate sensual sterility of Facebook-friendships and the text message masquerade?

p. donovan