The power of thought

Today's entry is a bit of a continuation of yesterday's themes, which blossomed in my head during the therapeutic drive to Orleans. I have been particularly struck by one of the songs on my 6-disc rotation in the car CD player, and that is a tune called "Make This Go On Forever" by Snow Patrol. While the title certainly doesn't fit, I suspect this will be the song that most reminds me of the current crises I face in my life right now. It stood out the first time I heard it, and it is more the mood it creates than the lyrics that most strike me (though the lyric repeated at the end, "Please just save me from this darkness", fits my situation more than the song's title does). The tune is both haunting and hypnotic, two qualities I love in a song, along with profound or poetic lyrics. All these qualities are also found in one of my favorite songs of all time, Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy," especially the superb live version from his quintessential 1972 concert album "Hot August Night." It is also the song I most eagerly anticipate at his concerts (I've been to nine or ten, I've lost count), and it alone is worth the price of admission to me. There is something extra powerful about his live renditions of this number, which build to a trance-like, explosive/cathartic climax at several points, and they are as close as I've come to a spiritual experience outside of therapy. Major head rush. Maybe that's what I want to "Go On Forever," but then it wouldn't be special, which is why I don't over-listen to my favorite music lest I kill its magic by doing so (Nessun Dorma, Tchaikovsky's Forest of Fir Trees in Winter from The Nutcracker, and Dear Father from Jonathan Livingston Seagull (another spiritual masterpiece from Mr. Diamond) all fall into this category).

Speaking of music and memories, I've noticed that memory is not only selective, but revisionist in a positive sort of way. I suspect that we put a positive spin, probably subconsciously, on most of our memories, filtering out any unpleasant factors so that only the pleasant remains (we do this with fantasies and daydreams also, and especially past lovers). Hence, these songs that trigger memories of my experiences on Cape Cod will no doubt color them more brightly than perhaps they should, which I suppose is OK. I know the truth is a little bit different than that, even though there have been bright aspects of being here. I am grateful to have had the experience - an experience most people never get to have (owning a million-dollar property in one of the most beautiful places in the country).

Which segues into my next topic...... two of my favorite quotes that I find some solace in these days.

One of them some of you may notice I use as my email "signature." It's from Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2, in which the miserable Hamlet compares Denmark to a prison. His compatriots disagree, to which Hamlet remarks, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Translated from Elizabethan English into more modern language, this might read "Whether you consider something to be "good" or "bad" depends on how you look at it." Nothing is good or bad in and of itself - it's how we interpret things that assigns "goodness" or "badness" to an event or a thing (or, in Hamlet's case, a place). We have another way of saying this nowadays: "One man's trash is another man's treasure." So when something happens that I am tempted to label "bad" (which we do solely based on past experience), I try to look at it in a different light, and remember that it's only "bad" if I choose to see it that way. Maybe it will have a "good" outcome - what the hell do I know? In this way, we each create our own reality based on our beliefs and expectations (a whole other topic that I am quite fond of and will expound upon one of these days).

The second quote I want to talk about today is also from Shakespeare, but this time from MacBeth, Act 1 Scene 3: "Present fears are less than horrible imaginings." How often do we worry and imagine the worst about a situation? How often do we imagine the best? I dare say we usually are tempted to "fear the worst." How pessimistic! None of us knows what the future holds, much as we like to think we can predict it. So why waste energy - waste life - worrying about things that will likely never happen? Better yet, why not imagine the best? Are we so afraid of disappointment that we nip hopeful thoughts in the bud? The bible says "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). It also says, "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee" (Matthew 8:13). Basically, you get what you habitually think about.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I don't always live by these two maxims, but I try to when I can muster the strength and courage. These concepts are counter to our normal way of thinking, but, to throw in a bonus quote, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). I don't for a minute believe that everything in the bible is true, but it sure does contain some good advice in spots. So these ideas are nothing new, but have been rehashed in new ways by Science of Mind ("change your thinking, change your life"), the hit DVD and book "The Secret," and many new-age thinkers (Louise Hay, Abraham-Hicks, Wayne Dyer ("You'll See It When You Believe It"), Deepak Chopra, Barbara Dewey, Michael Talbot and many others). And quantum mechanics supports the theory that our thoughts do affect our physical reality, at least at the minutest level. Jesus himself said that we - yes, we - could literally move a mountain just by commanding it to do so - if we believed we could. How powerful is that? Oh we of little faith! We are gods! (cf. Psalms 82:6)

Hope I don't sound too preachy, but I have been fascinated by these concepts for many years, and believe them to be true. So yes, I have gotten myself into my current situation by my past thoughts, beliefs and actions (which always follow thoughts and beliefs). This doesn't mean I blame myself or beat up on myself. Rather, it reminds me to be more careful what I think and believe, and to project a better future for myself and thereby make it happen. Of course as soon as something "bad" happens it's tempting to think this is all bunk - therein lies the challenge.

Today's quote:

"Take the lonely child - and the seed, let it be full with tomorrow..."
- Neil Diamond, Holly Holy