Large Fierce Mammal

“Bivouac” by the Incomparable Sieskja.

My Esteemed Friend Jim Keating recently made a profound utterance in the matter of prevailing flaccid, and annually recurring, expressions of what’s branded to be in the “Spirit” of the “Season”, saying in part …

“… How about songs, words, images which convey strength, power, confidence and faith in this time of Yule? Why not a STRONG CHRISTMAS? … To hell with family clusterfuks (sic), to hell with depression. Stand tall – train, eat with your fingers as a sword rests in your lap. Have animals about you if possible. Go somewhere, light a small fire, sit before it, feel the environment. Be Fearless no matter what … Gather power, store power, use power.

If after reading that, you find yourself wondering how Jim really feels, you might be in the wrong place, or at least in need of a Guide.

If you have a Social Insurance Number and a heartbeat you are viewed as grist for someone’s mill. Life for the average bloke is made more complicated than it needs to be by living it tuned into what someone else you barely know, never met, or isn’t actually biological at all, would have you thinking, talking, and worried about. Those same interests would have you believe there is something intrinsically wrong with people who are showing signs of having lost interest in the game, in what “experts” and “influencers” have to say, and what’s “trending” right now. Doing that requires being comfortable keeping you own counsel. Learning and trying on for size the Arts of Critical Thought and Intelligent Discourse.

Learning to revel in the Power of Solitude …

“I’ve never been one to become bored by my own company. I was quite young when I realized that being alone wasn’t boring, and that to truly know boredom I had to be in the company of other people. For most of my childhood, and all of what has so far passed as my adult life, I have been able to get more out of an hour in the woods, or quietly paddling a canoe as far from human habitation as I can get in the time permitted, than I could ever find in a week in the kind of place most people usually regard as a vacation paradise. The wild restores me in a fundamental and primal way that experiencing the greatest of man’s achievements could never even come close to equaling.” ~ Being in the Wild: The Original Control/Alt/Delete

That “alone” and “lonely” must never be confused with one another as by all proper definitions, neither is related to the other nor needs the other in order to exist, and I caution you, Goode Reader, to eschew any argument that the latter is a sure sign you’re doing Human wrong based on “the opinion of experts”.

“The ‘Environment’, as the word must be understood, encompasses the Earth in its entirety, and there is only one. Every space, regardless of size, that exists beneath, on, and above the surface of the planet – however near to or far from anything – is part of it, and everything that lives coexists inside it. Each living thing exists to fill a niche in Nature, and wherever it lives will share the portion of the Environment it occupies with others of its kind, along with still others of other kinds that either compete with it for a share of the same niche, or serve a supporting role. Regardless of role, this portion of the Environment in which a creature lives is its range, and within that range it will coexist with others to which it will be predisposed to be accepting, fearful, indifferent, or predatory.” ~ Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – Among and Not Above

The things that make you happy, or otherwise, any other time of year are no less so because it’s the so called festive season. Taken in the broad strokes deserved by Winter and our place in it, there are matters of greater gravity to discuss on Long Winter Nights ahead.

Until next time, keep your working hand clean, and by way of exit, here’s Mean Mary to sing us out.