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Friday, August 03, 2007

Potrait of political defiance: I want everything

Too often life makes a lot of demands. We're forced to make compromises, both big and small, as to the things we want, need and accept. It happens to all of us, and some of us can adjust to the lesser goods better than others; be it a job, a home, a relationship, or a political system.

I don't know the answer to true happiness, and I'm not going to pretend I do. I'm out there still searching for it, and I expect to be for quite some time. We each need to find our own way and make our peace with where we've gone and what we've accomplished when the road ends.

All of that is just a rambling preamble to a simple caveat: I don't have the magic formula that's going to solve the world's problems, despite my proclivity toward political preachiness. Absolute truth, like God, is something too big to be grasped by the individual mind, with all of its biases and limitations. That's why I'm so fond of the connections and conversations that the Web makes possible, as that collective consciousness is the first stumbling step toward a broader, more complete picture of reality.

One small lesson I have picked up along the way in my intellectual and spiritual meanderings so far, is that we can't stop wanting it all — whatever that all is. The moment we give in and abandon hope, we've lost the battle and the war. Those who'd like to keep us from our goals often try to beat us down into fits of apathy and despair. To overcome the weight of those moments, we can best use a measured dose of defiance.

I'm certainly reminded of this every election season, and this one is upon us sooner than most. To get me through the eventual nose-holding at ballot time, I like to sing this little ditty by Cracker.

I want everything

I'm standing in your corridor
I wonder what I'm waiting for
The Leaves are drifting out to sea
I'm waiting for you desperately

All things beautiful
All things beautiful
I want everything
I want everything

You call us with your silent seas
You call us in our tiny boats
Gather us up with the storm
And cast us out upon the shore

All things beautiful
All things beautiful
I want everything
I want everything

You're deep inside this fecund swamp
Or let it be your beating heart
You're deep inside this fecund swamp
You call us in our tiny boats

All things beautiful
All things beautiful
I want everything
I want everything
I want everything
I want everything

2 comments:

ndpthepoetress Jean Michelle Culp said...

Thanks Francis for gently reminding us that though we may ‘want it all’, all is not lost as long as we maintain hope. When we cast our ballots for the better or worse of Politics and Politicians; may we remember, in doing so we are giving hope that our vote will help make a difference. As we cast hopes in life, may we embrace the moments of those we do meet along our journey; rather that be on the www or face to face – as agreeably, the “collective consciousness is the first stumbling step toward a broader, more complete picture of reality.”

Francis Scudellari said...

Hi Jeane, thanks for the added 2 cents. I wasn't sure that anything I said made any sense :).