tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post1078716269299922847..comments2024-03-28T05:13:13.921-04:00Comments on Books, Inq. — The Epilogue: The inevitable ...Frank Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-47711086361753109952011-01-30T11:04:07.159-05:002011-01-30T11:04:07.159-05:00That's a great story, Frank. Something sublime...That's a great story, Frank. Something sublime and mysterious.<br /><br />I do agree, I should have said, with your thoughts about learning to live with yourself as an old person. My take on that, though, is that it's learning to live with yourself as a NEW person—that is, a person you've become, who is new to you, which you are still exploring. You know? It's a discovery process as much as an accommodation process.<br /><br />I'm still figuring out who I am now, after having a near-death experience (as it were). And later this year I'm to have surgery that is intended to resolve the chronic illness that brought me to this brink, this past year. That promises to be another life-changing event, and I don't know who I will be, or become, after that, either.<br /><br />I was reading one of my favorite poets last night, Octavio Paz, and I realized that he had written two or three books in the months following a major surgery he had had. One of them was "In Light of India," which is a really great book. I hope I am given even a tiny percentage of the chance to be so creative, during my own expected convalescence.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-35485672874162209682011-01-30T10:57:46.145-05:002011-01-30T10:57:46.145-05:00Ah, but you're younger than I, Art. Oddly, som...Ah, but you're younger than I, Art. Oddly, some 20 years ago, I came close to (literally) breaking my neck in a fall. No, my life didn't pass before my eyes, but I experienced the event, which probably took only a second, in slow motion, and just before I collided with the planet, everything was filled with the brightest, most intensely yellow light I have ever seen. But what was strangest of all was that I knew that something next was going to happen and I was starting to prepare myself for that, when I hit ground and rolled safely away from whatever encounter had been on the agenda. That sense of the reality of something <i>next</i> has never left me. But I certainly agree that life in incredibly precious and incredibly beautiful, and I certainly hope I will be permitted to stick around for a while. On the other hand, learning to live with yourself as an old person, rather than desperately trying to cling to a youth that is gone forever, is a good idea.Frank Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-49420023401442275582011-01-29T23:07:00.355-05:002011-01-29T23:07:00.355-05:00Actually, since I almost died, literally, last sum...Actually, since I almost died, literally, last summer, my perspective on this topic has utterly changed. So, no offense, and I actually don't buy any of this. LOL Life is both incredibly precious and incredibly beautiful. It's as the Japanese say: the cheery blossom is beautiful BECAUSE it is ephemeral.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.com