Literary Excercise #25: Say That's a Nice Frame!

Well, I'm supposed to be searching for grad school scholarships right now, so I'll keep this brief.

Do you ever notice a thing of beauty, say an image of the earth, and think about the outside limits imposed upon you without your consent? You're looking at the winter night sky--you see Orion with his bold bow and hunter's belt--but you cannot simultaneously pivot and see Canis Major at the same time. Or, you're looking at the horizon--it's dusk--and the sun is shooting off gorgeous amber and scarlet flares--you can only see X degrees, and then, my friend, you are a subject to the curvature of the earth. You can't take it all in. Pick from your own experience--the one that drives the point home for me is walking into someone's house and they have one of those, you know, nondescript but pretty pictures--you know--it has flowers or birds or butterflies in it, or maybe a stream with ducks, or an eagle soaring, or some materials that got thrown into the microwave and came out "abstract." Whatever--you say, "Say, that's a nice picture! Where'd you get that frame?"

Or do you? It doesn't really matter, there's no profound teaching point to be made. We are all of us, different, every one. But yeah, I'm curious--do you ask about the frame?

How often do we go through life looking at beauty, or thinking about questions, without asking, who frames them?

I'll give you a couple options--I suppose you can ignore them if you want. Whoever or whatever frames our beauty or questions is what we should put our faith in. Reasonable enough for you? I mean, if something frames reality, who are we to question it?

Being an artist, for the longest time, I thought that answer was me. Haha, didn't all of you? You just know not of the monochromes I can paint in, or create with Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus easel. Ha, that should be enough to disclaim me for the present.

Who do you think does? I've heard an interesting song by "Of Montreal" called Gronlandic Edit with a line that goes, "physics makes us all its bitches." Do you believe that? I mean, aside from the absurd anthropomorphism, is it sound?

It's a good question huh? I find it to be a driving force in my life, that beauty-framer, that question-framer. Or extend it--that truth-framer, that justice-framer, that framer of peace.

I'm gonna give it to you straight, from my experience, and as my uncle says, this might get a bit hairy-chested. We'll see. Two options as far as I'm concerned: faith in God or faith in man. Actually, this is a different question. Because let's say God frames the beauty, the questions, the truth, the justice, the peace. We can still choose to place our faith in man. It's short-sighted, when you think about it, but it's easy to do. Of course, one could argue that it is the other way around. But the matter revolves around a) possible sources who frame us b) who we trust as if they frame us, even if they don't.

Third option? Is there a third (some will say there are many thirds, a circle of fifths with this one). We could trust in evil--doesn't evil--hurt, death, disease, war--frame enough of our life? Okay, so I'm gonna give evil another name--Satan.

Ha, that'll put some cream in your coffee huh? A bit of a mind trip, really.

Ok--so three questions, and more variables, faith in God, Man, or Satan, and either a God-framer, or Man-framer, or a Satan-framer. Or if you prefer, a Good-framer, an Organic, Existential-Framer, or an Evil-framer. Haha, did you know I'm gonna teach your kids someday? Gosh that sounds sadistic but isn't meant as such--but I do intend to be a professor. Did you notice I'm talking about agency? One of the deficiencies with scientists who think they're philosophers these days--they don't seem to get this idea. Motion is not the same as action. Motion is just movement according to physical laws. Action involves a choice, free will, a mind to choose what the brain does.

Here's the deal--I'm really talking about metaphysics--i.e. what is real, what is not, what is reality, and who says so? These are important questions no matter what you do. Did you know people will control you by these very things? I'll give you an example from my "right-leaning" background, so you can freely call it biased and the methodology skubullah.

In Marxism, the working class will awaken to a "class consciousness" that will allow them to see the inhuman and uncreative treatment they receive from the bourgeoisie, unbeknownst to them. As the theory goes, if you're a laborer, and you're happy, but you haven't awakened to your "class consciousness," you're not happy. You're a schmuck. You're a sucker. You think you know what to feel, how to respond emotionally to situations in your life, but your defunct, your "broken"--and you need to be fixed. You're really unhappy. And you didn't know it until now. But you are.

Now while in all fairness this can occur at times in our lives--we certainly are not free from the binders and fetters that fall upon us--the point is to see whose framing the question here. Obviously the issue is vocation and what gives man his value--among a host of other assumptions--but look--I just gave you an example of a framing issue that controls nations. Or what do you call the history of the 20th century?

Alright, enough for now I imagine. What a great adventure we live! I am excited to move closer to the framer of my life, my reality, and your lives, your realities. Aren't you when it comes down to it? I've said it before, I'll say it again, living life involves a few things about living yourself, your own unique identity, and if involves some cyberthinking--some blogging and community--well let it be so.

Haha, and let me pull a Charles Olson.

"Thus thou."