The Agony and the Ecstasy

So, following on from the earlier post, I thought I'd let those of you faithful readers who've been following the maudlin mimsy of this blog know that my 2012 terrors have subsided, somewhat.

Either I have successfully lured myself into a false sense of security, hoping pole shift and massive die-offs won't occur (despite the unavoidable earth changes we're already witnessing), or time and the work I've done with the shrink and by myself in combating negative thought patterns is helping.

Actually, for the benefit of other fainthearts out there, who may be overwhelmed by the thought of a cataclysm, I thought I might add some websites that address the topic of 2012 and the end of the Mayan long count that are more optimistic.

In general, there's a split between the agony and ecstasy folks regarding this date. So here, without further ado, are the 'ecstasy' leaning ones:


http://www.starchildglobal.com/


http://www.livinginjoy.com/


http://weinholds.org/2012_home.asp


http://www.calleman.com/


I'll let you know of any more good ones as time progresses.

Meanwhile, I don't know about you, but I have a lot of plans for my life - plans that involve a hell of a lot of other people, too. So there better bloody NOT be a pole shift in 2012, or any other time for that matter.

Besides which, I'm far too egotistical to face the fate worse than death of surviving such a scenario. I need people around to angst to.

The illustration was taken from here.

(Pole) Shifting Perspective

Amazing what a little time makes to a person's outlook. I am happy to say, I have more or less moved beyond the 2012-pole-shift-mass-die-off terror. Those of my friends who weathered that crisis (due to my reading an apparently lucid esoteric site dedicated to surviving the event) may roll their eyes on reading this.

"I told you so," would not be remiss a response.

Which makes me wonder, why did I believe such predictions of catastrophe in the first place? My shrink tells me it's far easier to be swayed by the negative than the positive. Also, Mars had just opposed Pluto last fall when I stumbled on the contents of the site, and had entered my 11th house (hopes and dreams) heading towards not-so-mighty-mouse, chicken-hearted natal Saturn in Cancer.

A good combo for that classic "doomed" feeling; needless to say, the friendlies had a field day with that one.

Of course, there is still always the possibility that the 'ascension' of earth in 2011/12 may cause pole shift, in which case, most of us will perish. But I really can't be arsed to muster the appropriate terror. Besides which, doing so would make living in the present rather impossible.

The illustration was taken from here.

But What Good Are the Artists, Anyway?

The most sublime spectacle I have ever seen was a performance of Aram Khachaturian's ballet, Spartacus, performed in the Cypriot coastal town of Limassol four summers ago by the Kirov company (to which Rudolf Nureyev initially belonged).

To me, there is nothing more breathtaking visually than the human body in motion - particularly the sculpted heroic bodies of dancers. And it doesn't get much more heroic and inspiring than Spartacus.

Of course, the music was wonderful, too, and it didn't hurt that one of my favourite films from childhood was Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton and Tony Curtis.

Tonight, I happened to watch beautiful ballet performed by leading dancers from the Paris Opera.

And as I sat there watching the results of formidable discipline and dedication, not to mention, the artistic director and choreographer's compositions, it occured to me that while art and artists - performing or otherwise - feed our souls, they might be swept away as so much human debris or flotsam if a worldwide war over resources or global starvation due to crop (and land) failure occured.

Those elegant dancers, as well as all the actors, filmmakers, singers, songwriters, composers, visual artists, designers - even writers, could be reduced to being mere flesh, desperately craving food, shelter and safety for their loved ones in such a nightmarish event.

For those of us who are creative and were lucky enough to be born in the developed West, does it ever occur to us, we could ever be reduced to nothing more than desperate human beings?

With no other purpose in life, but to survive?