Lost at Sea

Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he !
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

My dear, we swim in an ocean of thought. And thoughts are what those like you and me hold onto-- we study the tidal theories of our minds, feel the crashing waves of emotion, and are subject to constant the ebb and flow of our truths. We are in constant motion. Though we are not always tangible, we are magnificent.

And yet it is in that lack of tangibility that one find's our tragic flaw. To hold onto a body of water is the task of a fool. Yes, we exist in the peaceful waters of the South China Sea of a Bataan summer. We are a beautiful creation of mother nature. But our fluid nature has consequences: the beauty's also a beast. The fairest of summer's is but season away from our volatile reality: tsunamis, tidal waves, monsoon rain and the perfect storm. We are destructive, we cause shipwrecks and can be the worst enemy of many a lost mariner.

He-- on the other hand-- he is of the land, the substantial. He is refuge from the storm. Whilst the currents pass, the land remains. He studies that which is substantial and proven. The changes brought about by the erosion of the sea are merely chip away at a solid mass. He is boulders, rocks and tightly packed earth and he holds dear to principle and practicality. It is land, not thought or liquid dreams, that you can hold on to.

And so if your sea must dry and you must leave the ocean of thought, then realize what is to remain. All that will remain of a body of flowing water is a bed of sand and the remnants of what was. It is then that sea turns to land and you join the world of substantiality. And what is to be of me? Perhaps I'll follow currents along everchanging tides.

Or perhaps I can never really be what I once was, and I too will dry.

Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea !
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.

Comfort

For the past who knows how long, this exchange from Huxley's Brave New World has been by itself in my facebook "Favorite Quotes" section:

"We don't," said the Controller. "We prefer to do things comfortably."

"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."

"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."

"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy."

I think its always interesting to revisit the information we put on our social networking profiles. From movies and television shows to quotes and about me's, we compile our profiles so that they reflect a certain individual, whether that be a real person or an imagined, "better" self. But what we don't always realize is that the James Golfo that's listed on facebook is a James from the past. Our profiles are time machines that take us back to a particular moment in which we sat down in front of a computer and decided "I'm going to summarize the person I am right now, and this is how."

How often do we go back and edit our profiles to make sure all of it still holds true? Do I still like that book? Shoot, do I even remember any of that book? I can certainly say that I'm a much different person today than I was when I last edited my facebook information. Hell, I'm probably a much different person than I was just a few weeks ago. Sure, I've slipped an extra movie or rapper to rest amongst a long list of movies and musicians, but the change is minute-- and let's be honest, probably unnoticed.

Before I go and revamp my entire profile, I think I'll just revisit one thing: the Huxley quote. Do I remember the plot of Brave New World? Sure, kinda. Do I remember the context of the quote? Yeah, more or less. Does it still hold true to me personally? Is this something I can really call my favorite quotation? To have only one quote under the word "favorite" can really say something. Out of everything ever said, this and only this is under my favorite quotations. Sounds like a commitment-- if it is to exist alone, it better mean something to me.

The answer is yes. Actually, it probably as true as its ever been.

P.S., to be completely honest, if I were less lazy, there would probably be more quotes there.