The Good Life & The Unified Will

Big Frank has been reading William Irvine's enlightening book, A Guide to the Good Life. In it he recommends the Stoic's approach to tranquility - the good life, as it were. One important point Irvine makes, following Epictitus, is that "Some things are up to us, some things are not up to us." Wanting things that are not up to us can leave us feeling "thwarted, miserable, and upset." "If we don't get what we want, we will be upset, and if we do get what we want, we will experience anxiety in the process of getting it." Irvine expands on Epictitus's dichotomy of control by saying that in fact there are three categories: (1) things over which we have complete control (such as the goals we set for ourselves); (2) things over which we have no control at all (such as whether the sun rises tomorrow); and (3) things over which we have some contol but not complete control (such as whether we win while playing tennis).

Both points one and two above (thing over which we have no control and things over which we have complete control) are relatively easy to understand. It is the third that requires a change of approach. This third goal, in order to preserve tranquility, needs to center on what you can do internally - the internal goals that you set for yourself are what are focussed on - not the outcomes: play the best game of tennis that you can; prepare as best you are able for exams; or state your thoughts and feeling directly to someone. In this way you are confining yourself to outcomes over which you have control. Beyond that - as far as ultimate outcomes are concerned - you cannot have control.

However, it is a challenge knowing when to muster your energy and strength to play your best game, to prepare yourself with firm purpose for some sort of test, to state directly your thoughts and feelings to another. This knowing and acting require an undivided will. Harry Frankfurt has quite a lot to say about this. He talks of "wholeheartedness" and quotes Saint Augustine (in Reasons of Love):

"The mind orders itself to make an act of will . . . ., but it does not fully will to do this thing and therefore its orders are not fully given. It gives the order only in so far as it wills, and in so far as it does not will the order is not carried out . . . . It is . . . no strange phenomenon partly to will to do something and partly to will not to do it. It is a disease of the mind . . . . So there are two wills in us, because neither by itself is the whole will, and each possesses what the other lacks." [Confessions 8.9]

Frankfurt diagnoses this disease of the mind as ambivalence - a divided will. The remedy is a unified will, one that is wholehearted. "Being wholehearted means having a will that is undivided. The wholehearted person is fully settled as to what he wants, and what he cares about. With regard to any conflict of dispostions or inclinations within himself, he has no doubts or reservations as to where he stands. He lends himself to his caring and loving unequivocally and without reserve." This wholeheartedness stems from, as Frankfurt puts it "self-love": this person does not oppose, or seek to impede his own will, as he is not at odds with himself. "He is free in loving what he loves, at least in the sense that his loving is not obstructed or interfered with by himself."

With this wholeheartedness, with this self-love, this purity of heart, one knows intuitively what are worthy internal goals and those are pursued without hesitation and without regard to outcome.

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Photo above was taken by Big Frank near St. Regis, Montana - evening sky with heart.
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Latest part of Chapter Three in Cliches to Live By posted.

Happy Birthday Carolyn

April 28
Some famous people born on this day:

1758 – James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (d. 1831)
1878 – Lionel Barrymore, American actor (d. 1954)
1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (d. 1993)
1926 – Harper Lee, American author
1930 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (d. 1983)
1937 – Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq (d. 2006)
1941 – Ann-Margret, Swedish-born actress
1948 – Terry Pratchett, English author
1950 – Jay Leno, American comedian and television host
1953 - Roberto Bolaño, Chilean novelist and poet (author of 2666)
1960 – Ian Rankin, Scottish novelist
1966 – John Daly, American golfer
1974 – Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress
1981 – Jessica Alba, American actress

If you're interested in what happened on April 28 throughout history go here.

Here's your birthday horoscope:
Romantic and creative intensity are big themes in the year ahead. Exploring your feelings, and a spirited approach to relating, figure strongly. You may be dealing with games of control and power, which go nowhere and only serve to frustrate. Some rebellious and gutsy behavior is likely, as you make changes and explore new avenues of self-expression. It's an intellectually stimulating year, and new connections are exciting. Go here for more.

Happy Birthday, Carolyn!

The Magic Lantern (in the snow)

Big Frank is reading the Stoics and it seems that the magic lantern does play an important part in all this. Stoicism, the philosophy, was born in ancient Greece with Zeno of Citium (333 - 261 BC). The Greek Stoics put their emphasis on the obtainment of virtue. However, that changed with the Roman evolution of Stoicism, as we know from, among other, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. They put the emphasis on tranquility. This latter evolutionary goal is what most today think of when they think of Stoicism. [The previous brief summary comes from William B. Irvine's history of Stoicism included in his great new book: A Guide To The Good Life.]

So, how is it that one attains tranquility. How does one do this? Epictetus says the solution is to never enter contests that you can lose. This rests on the choice to not seek contentment through external things by trying to change the world around you, but rather to gain contentment by changing ourselves, or more specifically by changing our desires. So, to come full circle, your primary desire should be to not form desires that you won't be able to fulfill.

As Epictetus puts it in his banquet metaphor: "Remember that you must behave as at a banquet. Is anything brought round to you? Put out your hand, and take a moderate share. Does it pass by you? Do not stop it. Is it not yet come? Do not yearn in desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you." As he also said: "It is impossible that happiness and yearning for what is not present will ever be united."

So - the magic lantern comes to the rescue. This lantern has the anti-Genie within. This Genie does not grant wishes; rather, he takes away unfullfilled wishes, in essence taking you back to the position where you started - untroubled by the desire to have what you do not have. Don't misunderstand, the lantern is not taking away what you have, only what you desire, but don't have. Enjoy it when you get it; don't trouble yourself about getting it. Big Frank carries the lantern with him now - always!

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And now for something completely different. For those of you who take sleeping pills and have sex in your sleep (when you really shouldn't). Here is some actual advice on what to do from Dear Prudence in Slate.

The Magic Lantern

The Magic Lantern
---- Big Frank Dickinson

This bronze lamp will accompany me everywhere;
It might could have possibly at one time contained
A genie; now it doesn't. The genie is gone -Not sure where.
But he may return - could be coming any day.
Bring back the genie and stuff him in the lamp.
I'm not sure if I'm talking to the lamp or the genie.
No matter, I don't really believe that either is
Magical, but still the idea that there is such a
Magical possibility is magic itself, and I will
Carry that idea around with me with this lamp.
I will not just carry it, but I will position it with the lamp in
The actual context of the object of my desires.
It will be a kind of ritualistic talisman, and in placing it at
The center of what it is that I want, I will
Contextualize my desire; perhaps the context
Will enter the lamp and a kind of inverse wish
Will occur, where the absence of my desire will
Inhabit the lamp rather than the object of my desire
Coming out of the lamp to fill my empty context.
Absence subtracted from context might equal fulfillment.
Suck out that gaping hole of desire, and pull in all that surrounds it
Like the center of a zero drawing all that surrounds into its nothingness.

Clouds and Flowers

Clouds and flowers - what a pair! They have more so much in common: ephemeral, fleeting, necessary, sweet (well - maybe flowers, not so sure about the clouds), beautiful, cyclical, up and down, delicate, insubstantial, filling our lexicons with metaphors, locked into our emotions, and very difficult to do justice to with a photograph. It seems to Big Frank that in addition to all the previous, there is also the observation that it is rare to see photographs of flowers and clouds. It's almost like pairing the tiny with the gigantic, the ground with the sky, and the palpable with the abstract. Clouds and flowers.

One and all

Spring is not just in the air now here in Spokane, it is in the ground, the trees, the sky, and the minds and hearts of small animals along with the larger ones too. It is a singular celebration as can be seen in a single grain of pollen soaring - in search of what puts smiles on all our faces. And look at where that pollen comes from. This flower equally beautiful alone or surrounded by its mates. The shout of spring may reach our eyes, but it's our hearts that hear. Big Frank's camera tried to capture some of that. Look at that blue backdrop to the smiles of spring - without that blue it just won't do.

.

Big Frank gets his ears lowered

Big Frank has decided that it's high time that some sense of reality was recorded on this blog, poetry, stories, philosophical ruminations, puzzling questions, music reviews, book reviews, . . . yeah, fine, but what about the REAL life. The life of breakfasts, looking out the window, driving to work, getting your oil changed, shopping for groceries etc. What about those - isn't that part of life too!

OK, Big Frank hears you. So today the post is on THE HAIRCUT!

This was an interesting haircut. Big Frank entered the establishment (what are you supposed to call it - hair salon? - barbershop? This place didn't call itself either. So Big Frank enters and there is nobody inside. He shouts, "Anybody here?" Then two people emerge from a backroom saying, yeah they are here. Big Frank asks what's going on why is everyone in the backroom, and they tell him that they are fixing sandwiches - so Big Frank orders a roast beef. They ignore that.

Rhiannon volunteers to cut Big Frank's hair and seats him in the chair and puts the black thing on him to protect him from all the cut hair. Then Big Frank thinks - let's get before and after shots of this. He runs out to his car and gets his camera, and Rhiannon gets into this, but exacts a promise from Big Frank that he will send her the pictures for her portfolio, or something. There is some introductory talk about what number of clipper to use, and how many fingers for the scissors. This is a foreign language to Big Frank, so he request that the haircut be pretty short on the side and not so short on top. Rhiannon translates this into a number 3 on the sides, and two finger on top. During the haircut, Rhiannon is very engaging and tells a lot of interesting stories about the origin of her name (Welsh witch's name and Fleetwood Mack song), the way in which she met her husband, where she learned to cut hair, and other stuff. This place is owned by a Ukrainian but Rhiannon isn't Ukrainian, she's of Mexican and some other ethnic group that Big Frank can't remember. She also thinks that she might be related to Aztecs. Big Frank examined her fingers and showed her how the fact that her ring finger and her pointer were the same size might indicate a connection with Aztec royalty, or was it Inca royalty? That was the source of a lot of conversation. But eventually the hair was cut and the after picture is, in Big Frank's opinion, better than the before one - so it was a good haircut! I mean isn't that the whole point - after is always supposed to be better than before. Why is that?

And, as an afterthought, Big Frank was thinking that hair salons and barbershops - haircutting establishments should start taking photos of the after. Keep them on file and then the client/customer could choose which one he/she wanted. Instead of describing, just show the picture - do it like this! Well, Big Frank has the photo now - so no more talk of clipper numbers or fingers.

It Is What It Is

It Is What It Is [Five takes]

---- Big Frank Dickinson

[In which you'll have to deal with it.]
Hey! No more pink M&Ms.
It is what it is!
Yeah, I know what you mean – tough shit, huh?
Whatever – what're you gonna do?

[In which it's hard to explain.]
Hey, Sweetheart, what's going on here – this ain’t good?
It is what it is!
Well, maybe we ought to talk about it!
Don’t overthink it, OK?

[In which it can't be helped.]
The luggage never arrived! What'm I gonna wear?.
It is what it is.
What are we gonna do?
Screw it, man.

[In which you are fucked.]
Did you hear that my house burned down last night?
It is what it is!
Screw you!
Whatever.

[In which it's much too complicated.]
Life – what a bitch, huh?.
It is what it is!
What the hell?
You said it.

On The Centennial Trail

Gorgeous day in Spokane. Big Frank rode his bike to Idaho and back on the Centennial Trail. There were lots of people out there: roller bladers, strollers, runners, cyclers, loafers, kids, old timers, couples, and everybody was moving one way or the other. Mostly everyone got along fine. Although Big Frank did pass a woman yelling at three kids about the insanity of throwing a large piece of metal at her! Don't know what that was all about. She was way irate, and they looked kind of like - WTF lady, we didn't see you. The river was flowing high, there were bald eagles flying low along the river looking for lunch, woodpeckers were pounding away, and rabbits were darting back and forth across the trail. Things were happening! It was a great ride - no posterior pain, the bike handled great, but Big Frank was knackered when he got back!

Dream Production

DREAM PRODUCTION by THEM
---- Big Frank Dickinson

The show comes on nightly for your what,
amusement, enlightenment, entertainment?
Is the writer tied up in the basement sending
the plot upstairs through one of the wonderful
pneumatic tubes? "Hello, here's scene three!
Places everyone, just got to get this thing set-up.
Right, OK street scene, no traffic, sunset:
Camera on sky - cloudy and menacing.
Up on fear, and consternation, now
figure of self running. Close up on face
Fade out. Switch to kitchen discussion."
Or is the writer/director locked up in the
memory vault snatching bits of dialogue,
lines of emotion, and vague yearnings,
and then blowing them up and filling in
with whatever scraps are lying around on the floor?
"'You told me that you would never do this!'
Low rumblings of anxiety and fear. Now
enter image of almost-forgotten lover who
in fact did do that - smiling but darkly."
Or maybe this is a joint project with the
pneumatic tube delivering images from the
fantasy chamber (wherever the hell that is)
and everything - dialogue, scenes and characters
are all strangers to your memory. Who gets the nod tonight,
subconcious yearnings, replays of long gone pokes,
or the totally new production? No - they all work together
in between takes and during the waking hours - they
are collecting data - they see what you are not even
aware of, and mix it with your day scenes along
with an emotional soundtrack that tells the real story.
Who the hell are they?

The Others

The Others
---- Big Frank Dickinson

You look at a tree and might wonder -
what's going on inside that tree,
but that's so far beyond your grasp,
and even if it weren't how could you
ever express it to anyone else,
much less to yourself.

You look at the person standing next to you.
You talk to your best friend, you make love
with your partner. Then ask yourself:
what's going on in there? Do I have
any idea whatsoever, or am I duplicating
a version of myself, or perhaps creating
a version of them - but only my version.

Are we variations on a theme? We can agree
on so much: the color of the grass, the
sound of the wind in the leaves, the feel of skin
on skin, the rise of anger, the pang of loss,
and the fullness of love and joy.

But are these merely construction materials,
and our assumptions about the building as
far off as guesses of a structcure made
from an inventory of wood, steel, and cement?
There are so so many wholes that can emerge from the parts.

Who are you? If I glimpsed within would I find anything familiar?
If you took just a peek, would it be understood in any way?
Are we all simulacrums of everyone else,
or is each one of us unsimulated?

SNOW?

Big Frank woke up this morning to SNOW! It actually was pretty nice, especially because he knew that it would not last. So he grabbed his camera and caught the snow quickly before the April sun melted it away.

Water sprites

Big Frank caught the sun (briefly today - only briefly) on the buds along the Spokane River. The river is running high and fast, and the buds are poised to emerge - maybe tomorrow. All this excitement has caused the water sprites to erupt in sound. They sing with their eyes closed because the buds are not yet open. Big Frank only caught a bit of their song - only a bit, but it sounded something like this:


Splishin00, caloomaloo, spaloo, spaloo


What does it all mean? Only the water sprites know for sure.

The Bike and The Buffalo Grass

It's that time of year again: bike and buffalo grass. And today Big Frank introduced them to each other for the first time. You might ask: WTF - why introduce the bike to the buffalo grass? Well, the answer is simple. Come spring - real spring - the bike comes out. Today was Big Frank's first bike ride of 2009! It was a kind of shake-down ride - just checking out the bike, and checking out Big Frank's legs, core, and butt. And? All systems are go - legs and core fit! And the butt? A little sore - but that's because that's the only part that didn't get any workout during the winter. In the future Big Frank'll have to do a little practice sitting during the winter. And the buffalo grass? [A little aside at this point. Have you ever wondered why so many people ask themselves questions when they are talking - especially in interviews. As in, "Would it make any sense for me to be asking myself questions?" Actually it would do no more good than stating the answer to begin with. - OK end of aside] The buffalo grass, next to the bike, is what Big Frank spends most of his time in the summer on. So Big Frank introduced one focus of spring/summer to the other focus. And, do they get along? Actually they did not have a lot to say to each other.

The sun is obscured

The sun is hidden behind the clouds and rain has replaced the rays. Big Frank was walking in the rain today, and thinking that the cycles are unavoidable. The beauty of the sunshine is balanced by the beauty of what is obscured and withheld. It's almost like you are being told that what is given needs to be appreciated for it is not everpresent. And the darkened sky and the wet ground has its own presence - one that gives you perspective. Big Frank was out taking photos today and the shots are as beautiful as in the sun - but in a different way. OK, it's wet and you have to cover up, but those rain drops and that chill has its own charm. Let's see what Easter morning brings!

At Its Core It Glows

Big Frank has glimpsed the core of spring and it's glowing like the sun. This is the promise that it brings and it is as bright as the center of a flower. Just as the flower blossoms and in opening its petals it reveals its promise, so too spring. It's a new start; it's an amazing rebirth that gives us all second chance - a third chance - or more. It radiates outward and is there for all - just look around and you'll see it just as Big Frank did in the flowers that he captured with his camera this afternoon. He didn't have to hunt for it; it did not require any searching. All he had to do was look and there it was - waiting, ready, and glowing with possibilities.

Surprise Me

Surprise Me

---- Big Frank Dickinson

Surprise me with an unexpected delight,

Peek in my window, knock on my door,

Fill my mailbox with cards of uncommonly

Unexpected sentiments and shockingly

New information of the most welcome sort.

Drop in on me at the most uncivilized time,

Don't call ahead of time, come unannounced

And when you enter don't bother with halting

Preludes of small talk; immediately blurt it out;

Speak the unspeakable and hint at what

Nobody would have ever suspected

Alluding to the most secret agreeablness.

Make arrangements that could never have

Been forseen, and invite not the same old crowd

Invite crazy poets, cratchety neighbors, and youth.

And play music not heard in my house - ever:

Lovely soothing polkas, deep disco and creole fugues .

Ambush me in the midst of my mundance muddle;

Chase me away from the steady usual.

Startle me with the freshness of the hidden joy

That hides in the shock of this planned accident.

The Benificence of Spring is a New Year

Big Frank is seriously wondering why the New Year begins in January. That is just wrong on so many accounts: it is cold then; it is in the middle of the fiscal year; it is in the middle of the school year; it is not the beginning of anything for anybody anywhere. The only thing that begins on January 1 is the new calendar. So Big Frank says, "LETS CHANGE THAT!" Write your congressional representative and your senator. Send an e-mail to President Obama. Contact Oprah! Go door to door in your neighborhood . . . and tell them all that the new year should begin in spring. We all know that March 21 is too early, and it's in the middle of the month - so OK it's astrologically the first day of spring - let that stay. However, the new year will hence start on APRIL 1!

This will allow the new year to coincide with nature's new year (well at least in the northern hemisphere, and let's face it there are more people in the north than the south, so if there were a vote the north would win, so let it be April 1.

So in keeping with that (Big Frank is going to pretend that is has already happened): Happy New Year. Let this new year bring you HEALTH, and HAPPINESS, and MONEY (hey, you need at least enough), and LOVE (yeah, baby), and NEW FRIENDS, and GOOD FOOD, and NEW ADVENTURES, and LOVE (Big Frank knows he already said it, but it's the most important one so it gets invoked twice). HAPPY NEW YEAR

Pulling for Dan

Big Frank's little brother, Dan, has multiple myeloma. He was diagnosed four years ago and has been through a series (it sometimes seems like an unending series) of treatments: many chemotherapy regimens and one stem cell transplant. He is currently in Little Rock and is undergoing, right now, a autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. He is drawing near to the close of the high dose chemotherapy that is preparatory to the reintroduction of stem cells gathered earlier. Big Frank invites you to visit his blog and write him a note of encouragement. He means all the world to Big Frank.

No More Waiting!

YES! How is that for a positive opening? Big Frank is not waiting anymore. The buds are budding, the flowers are flowering: it is really spring! Well, not everywhere (sorry, North Dakota), but in Spokane it is. Big Frank's photos (see above) are actual reliable proof! The thermometer on Big Frank's car said that it was 67 degrees outside today. Get out your shorts, your straw hats, and your bikinis. Throw open the windows and go get the lawn darts out of storage (does anybody really have any?). Start planning that first picnic (Big Frank is). Blow out your sprinklers, and get out your hoses. Call the special someone that you've been eyeing from a distance. Gather ye (OK, no rosebuds just yet) crocuses while ye may, and give them to him/her! Start thinking about what has arrived and put winter behind you. Those few rump remnants of snow that are trying to hang on in the shadows of spring have had it. Green holds sway. Yellow has its day! What's the old cliche: It's All Good. Well, maybe not all, but how about - Very Much of it Seems Pretty Good!

Waiting For Godot

"Nothing to do." This is what carries throughout this amazing play. Vladimir and Estragon spend the entire play having to do nothing - a very taxing and unending task. Out of it comes some dazzling verbal play, some touching acts of kindness, some disturbing inhumanity, and throughout an unblinking keen insight into life. At great play.

Big Frank watched it last night and was blown away. He hadn't seen it in years and for some reason it touched him much more this time than in previous. Maybe having waited a number of years to see "Waiting for Godot" made it better.

Here are a few of Big Frank's favorite quotations from the play.

"We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. (He listens.) But habit is a great deadener."

"The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh."

"They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."

"There's no lack of void."

"What are we doing here, that is the question."

The Attraction of Paradoxes

What is there about paradoxes that draw people? Big Frank has been pondering this lately. He is drawn to them too; and knows that with some the more they seem to make no sense the more that he thinks that they make a lot of sense - a paradox! That's the draw isn't it. We distrust in many ways, especially for the big issues in life, the rational approach. Here's one that Big Frank likes: the end is the beginning, and beginning is the end. See Big Frank's previous post on the.

So what other popular paradoxes are so attractive? The Bible is full of paradoxes:

1. To save one's life, he or she must lose it. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it" (Luke 17:33).
2. To be wise, we must become fools. "If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise" (I Corinthians 3:18).
3. To be exalted, we must become humble. "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12).

Philosophy has more than its share of paradoxes:

1. Lao Tsu in his philosophy of Tao holds that both the mind and the universe exist inparadoxical complements. Each one discovers its nature through the its relationship with the other. (Wallace Stevens finds a similar relationship between lovers in his poem "A Restatement of Romance".)
2. Kierkegaard is full of paradoxes:

• "Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are."
• "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
• "Take away paradox from the thinker and you have a professor."

3. And then there's Neiztsche who held that the human race would occur over and over again, while waiting to evolve into the ubermench.

And what about the folksy truisms that we all invoke from time to time:

1. Without some unhappiness we would not really know happiness.
2. Misfortunes that we encounter in life are really fortunate opportunities.
3. There comes a time when the lie is the only truth and all truths are nothing but misinterpretations.

Evening Thoughts

Thoughts to Replace Thoughts
---- Big Frank Dickinson

"And all the lousy little poets
Coming round
Trying to sound like Charlie Manson
. . . and the white man dancing"
---- Leonard Cohen

Count up all the words of all the poets and all the philosophers
and all those new age seers. Count them up and count up their readers
who take them home with them, and in the glow of the light beside
their bed ponder and try on what they pry from the spare hours of
their day. Ponder and try on in search of recipes to what? They
don't even know the questions to which they are seeking the answers.
A phrase will stick, and thought will glow, and it resonates in the
night of their little bedroom plight. And then the book is shelved with
all the rest. A line grows on the edges of their sight, a line that stretches
out in vertical rows stacked on vertical row of names and titles that
become wallpaper to their further ponderings. An unending evening search
for thoughts to replace thoughts that were never thought.

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And for those of you who are Leonard Cohen fans here's possibly the two best covers of Leonard Cohen ever: Teddy Thompson on Cohen's song "The Future", and "Tonight Will Be Fine". What a voice this man has!

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Chapter Two in Clichés to Live By.