Ruminations regarding celebration and contemplation

Aweh dearly beloved fellow ruminants & groupies

There are those naturally prone to celebration. I am not one of those. There are those naturally prone to contemplation. I am one of those. I’m not wired for the party scene. Weddings? Snoozefest. Graduations? Meh.  Winning the freaking Rugby World Cup twice, well, that warranted a fleeting high-five (don’t judge). But for the most part, I find solace in the quiet hum of contemplation. It’s my jam. Some might call it rumination, even a symptom of nihilism or mental illness (maybe they’re right, or maybe my shoes are just too tight).

What about death? We raise a glass to the good times, the shared jokes, the epic hangovers – a testament to a life that burned brightly, even if it burned out too soon. We throw a middle finger to death where laughter drowns out the mournful hymns. But what about contemplation, that quiet corner where tears flow freely and memories sting? How do we grapple with the unfairness of it all? What happens after the party?

Social media? A celebration cathedral. Everyone’s living their “best life,” constantly popping champagne corks for achievements real and imagined. It’s an echo chamber of fabricated joy, a competition of whose life is “better.”

But with credit to M. Scott Peck life is difficult and we all know that. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.  A celebration will not solve that for long. There is the morning after.  Contemplation is much more effective than celebration in dealing with the difficult stuff.

Unless you are significantly more mentally ill than me, we should not celebrate things like dementia, cancer, or Gaza. There are many things where celebration is not appropriate. These are things that require contemplation. It is contemplation that is the fuel that propelled us out of the Dark Ages and ignited the scientific and industrial revolutions. It is more contemplation followed by action that will allow us to deal with existential problems such as climate change that we are facing now. Contemplation is humanity’s superpower.

But how do we wield this power? Start quiet. Think things through. But don’t stay in your head forever. Share your distilled thoughts, honed to a sharp point. Use humour, be quirky, and embrace the unconventional. Try not to put ill-considered brain farts out there late at night when you have had too much wine. Donald Trump is not a role model. Quiet contemplation is not his strength nor is being articulate. I will leave it to those wiser than me to explain why he will still be the next president of the United States.

Biased as you are, ignorant as you are put your considered opinion out there. Piss into the wind and scream into the abyss. Invite people to tell you that you are a biased and ignorant moron. Listen to them carefully without interruption. The worst that can happen is that you were facing the wrong way into the wind, and you will get warm and wet. Wipe it off and do some more contemplation. Could you get offended in this process? Of course. Get over yourself. Then rinse, wash, repeat. This is the way you can become a force to be reckoned with. So, tell me why Trump will make the world great again. I’m listening.

How do we deal with things we struggle to talk about because the positions on either side are so extreme? Gaza is the example of the moment. Should you keep your mouth shut about Palestine? The story about Asna Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian American Muslim from near Los Angeles is instructive. She recently graduated from the University of Southern California as the class valedictorian and was initially invited to give a valedictory speech at her graduation. Then her social media record was examined and an Instagram post from five years ago linking to a slide show about Palestine was sufficient for the University to cancel her speech citing security concerns. Is that the truth?

If we can’t share our contemplation, even if it is biased wrong, and offensive then we will remain biased and wrong, and things are likely to get even more offensive.

One of the things that I am increasingly encouraging my students to do is to use AI language models to assist with their writing. Not only for punctuation and grammar but also to assist with better and more concise writing. It is a powerful tool. I confess to using Gemini or ChatGPT to assist with my writing. However, as soon as the word Gaza appears in a paragraph or sentence Gemini refuses to correct your grammar. For Gemini Gaza is verboten. You get this helpful message, “While I aim to be helpful, Google Search may provide a more detailed and accurate response on this topic”. No, it won’t. Gemini told a fib.

Gaza is not something we are allowed to contemplate together. Let’s just shout at each other instead and allow the human suffering to continue. We need to contemplate how we solve difficult problems like this and cancelling and censorship are not helping.

I want to express my gratitude for all the ideas and comments received. I genuinely appreciate them, and please continue to share your thoughts.

Regards

Bruce