Jonathan Carroll's Blog, page 54

CarrollBlog 4.24

"There was a flaw in the cloth of her heart that was permanent and beyond repair. It was caused by a kind of emotional narcissism. Whatever she was feeling, she expected (and in many cases demanded) others feel as well. If she was madly in love, then the object of her affection had to love her back as truly madly deeply or else there was trouble and misunderstanding. If she was depressed, then without question the world was a black and cruel place. There was no coaxing her out of it or...

CarrollBlog 4.23

In the bakery the woman and her young daughter are choosing birthday cakes. The owner is friendly and patient as the girl looks at the six delicious choices, absolutely unable to decide. She keeps asking the owner questions. The man answers each one smiling, looking from the girl to her mother. Suddenly the door whooshes open and a woman blows in like a big wind. She is very good looking, well dressed and made up. Although there are several people waiting now, all of us are content watching t...

CarrollBlog 4.20

funny email from a friend:

Today I visited my parents. They live together but have separate bedrooms and haven't talked to each other for years. They live very separate lives--two strangers in the same apartment. When I walked in today, I heard my Mom laughing. I looked in her room but it was empty.So I went to father's room. Do you know what I saw? My parents - together in the same room, talking and laughing! I nearly had a heart attack. The scene was so unexpected and I was so surprised ...

CarrollBlog 4.19

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE: If life is so purposeless, do you feel that it's worth living?

STANLEY KUBRICK: Yes, for those of us who manage somehow to cope with our mortality. The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning. Children, of course, begin life with an untarnished sense of wonder, a capacity to experience total joy at something as simple as the greenness of a leaf; but as they grow older, the awareness of death and decay begins to impinge on their consciousness and...

CarrollBlog 4.17

DON'T DO THAT

By Stephen Dunn

It was bring-your-own if you wanted anything

hard, so I brought Johnnie Walker Red

along with some resentment I'd held in

for a few weeks, which was not helped

by the sight of little nameless things

pierced with toothpicks on the tables,

or by talk that promised to be nothing

if not small. But I'd consented to come,

and I knew what part of the house

their animals would be sequestered,

whose company I loved. What else can I say,

except that old...

CarrollBlog 4.16

"On a very basic level all beings think that they should be happy. When life becomes difficult or painful, we feel that something has gone wrong. This wouldn't be a big problem except for the fact that when we feel something's gone wrong, we're willing to do anything to feel okay again. Even start a fight…

As long as we're caught up in always looking for certainty and happiness, rather than honoring the taste and smell and quality of exactly what is happening, as long as we're always running ...

CarrollBlog 4.15

The younger a person is, the larger the sunglasses they wear.

The younger a person is, the larger the shoes they (usually) wear.

The younger a person is, the louder they speak to each other.

The older a person is, the more noise they make when sitting down or standing up.

The older a person is, the more apt they are to recognize their limitations and the fact there is little they can do about them.

The older a person is the fewer clothes they buy with words printed on them; or new...

CarrollBlog 4.14

"This Is A Love Poem"

by Mary Fell

My blood

suddenly

knows you are gone

It is shouting your name

It runs

down to the ends of my fingers

looking for you

It wants to be

a piece of red wool

unraveling

all the way to Central America

It wants to be a boat

coming into the harbor at Managua

carrying fruit

Through all the rooms of my body

it is running

opening doors

A child in a tantrum stamps

red shoes

demanding to know where you are

"This Is A Love Poem"by Mary FellMy bloodsudd...

"This Is A Love Poem"

by Mary Fell

My blood

suddenly

knows you are gone

It is shouting your name

It runs

down to the ends of my fingers

looking for you

It wants to be

a piece of red wool

unraveling

all the way to Central America

It wants to be a boat

coming into the harbor at Managua

carrying fruit

Through all the rooms of my body

it is running

opening doors

A child in a tantrum stamps

red shoes

demanding to know where you are

CarrollBlog 4.13

Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: the salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorable...