The human condition is generated by chemistry but orchestrated by this organism we call society. Having escaped my local environment for over a month, upon my return I am slammed against the wall of American dogmatism and hyperbole—its rather depressing. It occurs to me that the ‘news’, is to a great extent really a self-perpetuating stream of gossip, negativity and manipulation. There is something very liberating about leaving the media behind and exploring the world through sight, sound, taste and touch as I was able to do for the last month or so—in defiance of hyper-connectivity. I find that my most scintillating memories are of unexpectedly delicious meals, chilled white wine on a blisteringly hot day and the thrill of rounding a corner to glimpse some unanticipated foreign wonder. And honestly, one need not go far to experience the foreign—just beyond the familiar, really—and how far is that? But if one can travel much further, that can even amplify the joy.
We formulate our condition only in part. Our bodies dictate our level of happiness and one can do only so much to achieve and maintain a healthy physical form—but there is joy in physical well being. The human condition is, however, determined perhaps more by the level and quality of engagement in emotional, intellectual and aesthetic experience. Whether we realize it or not, we must compose and orchestrate our experience to feel its pangs, its flights of fancy, and its wells of insight. I try to remember that what is eliminated from our scope is as important as what is embraced. And from time to time I visit the Onion Cellar and savor a little glass of absinthe for my aesthetic health. "Turn on, tune in, drop out"?
