CONVERSATIONS with a Hypoxic Dog (CwHD) is a weblog about words and language and other inanities. CwHD began May 1, 2017. Besides thematic essays, the site provides a vehicle for sharing my own words and language. In July, 2017, I opened The Bookstore. This page provides an overview of my published work. Print and ebook copies are available through my publishing website majikwoids. A link is provided below and in the sidebar.
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CwHD 91
A glossary of archaic or uncommon words is added at the end of the essay.
Chop
Wood, Carry Water
Sir
Isaac Newton is noted for his concise descriptions of the physical
world. His three laws of motion are well known and the third law is
so often cited that it has become something of a cliche. The third
law states that for every action in nature there is an equal and
opposite reaction. If object A exerts a force on object B, then
object B also exerts an equal force on object A. The lift generated
by a wing exemplifies this principle as does the game of billiards,
the martial arts of aikido and judo, tsunamis, marbles, walking, and
intercontinental ballistic missiles.
While
this exchange of forces is quite predictable for inanimate objects
and the autonomic movement of animate objects, any attempt to
apply the principle to human behavior is far more problematic.
How
does one respond to an upraised middle finger (action)? Certainly,
context is critical to any informed decision. However, the phallus
finger seems to trigger such an emotional, visceral response
(reaction) that informed reasoning is short circuited, adrenaline
surges, and before we can say oh fooie one's middle digit is raised
in return, the arm outthrusted, jaw clenched.
Thus
the conundrum. Controlling one's emotional reactions is often
beyond reason.
Neville
Chamberlain is often reviled for his vain attempt to appease Adolf
Hitler. Appeasement, of course, is most often considered a form of
flight. In order to avoid confrontation, one attempts to pacify and
conciliate one's opponent. Winston Churchill, on the other hand, is
often lauded for his famous speech to Parliament in June of 1940 that
proclaimed " ... we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight
in the fields and streets, we shall fight in the hills ..." Two
of the Bible's most often quoted anecdotes suggest either course as
correct: One can passively turn the other cheek or vengefully take an
eye for an eye.
The
United States Supreme Court, that once august body, has given this
opinion on unbridled responses: "fighting words," speech
and actions that incite others to imminent lawless actions,
obscenities that might do the same, as well as certain types of
defamatory speech and specific types of threat are not protected by
the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment and so can be regulated
and even punished by the legal entity involved (the state of
Pennsylvania in this case). Laws that have been upheld as
constitutional are laws which range from a simple summary offense
of Disorderly Conduct to
felonies such as Terroristic Threats.
Controlling
one's limbic system,
it seems, might well be imperative in order to remain at large and
free from the capricious nature of some hanging judge. No simple
matter apparently. Statistics from the Bureau of Justice from the
year 2012 give the total of federal, state and local expenditures on
prisons, jails and the like at just over $80 billion.
So
consider the movement of water which is, of course, a body of
knowledge encompassed in the science of hydrology. Moving water
offers an analogy that might serve to untie the Gordian knot that is
the feedback from one's limbic system. If one embarks on a river of
some size, or a coastal voyage in a small boat whose motive power is
the wind or one's muscles, the analogy becomes more apt.
The
Columbia River does not need much encouragement to run at four or
five knots. If the main channel is narrow or the flow is constricted
by islands, the water will crown and carry away the less than
intrepid sailor or paddler. Head on confrontations with currents,
however they may arise, rarely profit the small boat sailor, paddler
or rower. Flight is the order of the day. Back eddies, slack water
and the lee side of some prominence provide the means to tame the
aggressive current (might such current be labeled the aqueous world's
limbic system?).
Flight,
unfortunately, carries a connotation of cowardice. So euphemisms are
in order.
Flight
can mean simply running away; but the word surely connotes more than
that. In terms of the working analogy, both back eddies and lee sides
can equate with avoidance, a more complicated form of flight which
involves keen awareness of one's environment as well as an astute
awareness of human nature. Slack water, my personal favorite, at
first glance appears to be merely indifference. The following
anecdote implies much more.
Morihei
Ueshiba, the man who put aikido on the map, often traveled by train.
As a slight seemingly frail old man, eighty-something, he had his
students carry the luggage. No matter how crowded the platform
Ueshiba was able to walk sprightly along, parting the waters as it
were, with his students hustling along behind in his wake. Committed
to neutrality, focused, the old man lived upon slack water. He gave
no thought to fight or flight. His only concern, to add an old
Chinese analogy, was to chop wood and carry water.
Concentrating
on one thing at a time seems beyond possibility in this digital age.
Focus is wanting generally. But there is this: Sick with flu,
prostrate on the couch, wallowing in self-pity, the cell phone rings
(vibrates, chortles, clangs, dingdings, whatever) and reluctantly the
call is answered. A long lost friend has reached out. Smiles and
laughter and hail-fellow-well-mets blossom and flourish. And the flu?
Well, one's illness is apparently in remission for the moment.
Similar focused moments are common experience, if one but considers.
And it is such moments that I label slack water: the disconnected
haven between Scylla and Charybdis.
And if moments are possible, why not hours or days or a lifetime.
Asians
seem better at this mindset than western folk. Two prominent
individuals who attained neutrality (centrality?) were Mahatma Gandhi
and the Dali Lama. In an interview with Bill Moyers (still available
on YouTube), the Dalai Lama was asked a question that cut to the core
of the issue. How did he deal with insect pests like mosquitoes. The
Dalai Lama laughed (a very happy fellow this fellow) and said at
first he would gently wave a hand. And if that didn't work? asked
Moyers. Ah, then perhaps a puff of air. And ... The Dalai Lama
laughed his laugh, and then smack, he slapped his forearm. Chop wood,
he said. Ha ha ha.
Glossary
autonomic,
involuntary or unconscious, relating to the autonomic nervous system
which includes heartbeat and breathing among other less obvious
examples (cellular homeostasis, e.g.).
conundrum,
a confusing and difficult question or problem.
limbic
system, that part of the brain
involved in our behavioral and emotional responses, especially when
it comes to behaviors one needs for survival: feeding, reproduction
and caring for one's young, and fight or flight responses.
Scylla
and Charybdis, in Greek mythology, Scyylla was a rather nasty
six-headed monster who lived on a rock on one side of a narrow strait
(said to be the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily), and
Charybdis was a whirlpool on the other side.
summary
offense, the least serious type
of crime. Felonies are most serious and misdemeanors less so. Summary
offenses can be decided without jury trial.
