Reflections on the Deep End

Water Flowers

I rarely descend to the existential depths of metaphysical dread. Why would anyone want to? Besides there’s nothing down there. That’s why it’s dreadful. Why get all miserable over nothing? Sanity stays on the bright surface with the breathable air and the cleansing rain. Or, to put it in other words: don’t look down–the deeper depth is toward the sky.  That leads me to my problem. Although I don’t have anything particularly dreadful to write about, which should make the sophisticated and critical reader question my allegiance to the dark side, I no longer have any motivation to shut up.

SMILING LETS ONE BE
SEASONS’ PLAYFUL METERS RHYME
TIME TO LIVE FORGIVE

Text: Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday.  Bjorn is hosting.  Toni provided the prompt why do we write in the way we do?  I am not sure if I answered it.
I am also linking this to Debbie Roth’s Forgiving Fridays because it occurred to me when I woke this morning that if I really want to levitate to a deeper depth I will have to stop weighing myself down with making sure karma is distributed equitably. There’s plenty of karma to go around.

Photos: “Water Flowers”, above, and “At the Chicago Botanic Garden”, below, by the author.

At the Chicago Botanic Garden

 

Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

76 thoughts on “Reflections on the Deep End”

  3. I’ve had one of those days where Murphy’s law seems real. “Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment.” Anyways, your words of looking up to find the deeper depths was a solace to a confused mind. Thanks, Frank.

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  5. I’m not sure? But I liked what you wrote, it’s sure I am not one of your “sophisticated or critical readers.” I did like you two final words, “Live Forgive.” I think, maybe it is the only way to live. Forgive ourselves and forgive others, a little bit each day. It can’t be done in a day.

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    1. Those are the idealized readers who prefer the dark side. I have to learn to forgive them and forgive myself for setting up a situation where I need to forgive them in the first place. I don’t see you enjoying “metaphysical dread” whatever that is.

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    1. I think misery is a temporary inability to see clearly which will resolve itself. I agree that it is not a sign of depth even if that depth is attained through levitation of some sort. Even the experience of “metaphysical dread” is a temporary misery. Thanks, Sarah!

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  13. I specially like this part: the deeper depth is toward the sky. Very inspiring to read and good to know that we share the same perspective. Time to live and forgive! Have a good week~

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    1. Sometimes one writes the way one is expected to write. I thought it would be easy to find something to link to Debbie’s Forgiving Fridays. That was yesterday. When I woke up this morning I realized I didn’t know what forgiveness was. I’m still learning which I guess is a good thing. Thanks, Margaret!

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  19. Sound philosophy, Frank! I love what you say about sanity staying ‘on the bright surface with the breathable air and the cleansing rain’ and I agree, ‘the deeper depth is toward the sky’.

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  24. That was humorous, Frank — we have too little time on this rock to spend it wallowing in misery when not needed, eh? But I do love the ting of darkness (with humorous cynicism) so that sappy wonderfulness does not blind us either. LOL

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    1. I am glad you liked it, Sabio. You may be right about expressions of sappy wonderfulness, because sappy wonderfulness isn’t wonderful. That may be because it doesn’t see clearly enough. It may need some of that dread to motivate it to clean the windows and look closer. Perhaps that is what the nothingness of dread is for?

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    1. Thank you! It does seem like a zen perspective based on what little I know of zen. That might mean it fits even better the haibun form, but I don’t know much about haibun except what Toni has told us at dVerse.

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    1. Thank you! I think being “nearly” happy is the ideal. It is smiling not laughter that the brain needs–and the soul as well. I also hear yawning helps the brain, but I don’t know why. Maybe it shakes one out of the expected and that helps one to look up.

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  27. And therein lies the irony, it’s everything and nothing all at once, as the same with joy and happiness.
    Perfection I find is somewhere between the two. There is such beauty everywhere however being able to see it, your photos show that beauty.

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  30. Frank, wow. Thank you for your contribution to Forgiving Fridays. This is so creative and moving …. it moves me to a deep place inside of me (ironically or not!) I love what you shared about letting go of distributing karma evenly. That is beautiful, as is this entire post. I am honored to share it for this week’s Forgiving Fridays. And great photos! Many blessings, Debbie ps – I listened to the audio again, it really adds another dimension to your posts. 🙂

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    1. Thank you, Debbie, for setting up the Forgiving Fridays prompt. It is good to think about forgiveness. I generally think that I forgive most of the time, but then I realized on writing this that any time I blame someone, even justifiably, I am not forgiving, I am not seeing the situation correctly. The best way to reach those deeper depths in the sky that I claim are there is to see the situation correctly. So I have a lot to learn.

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  32. Pingback: Today’s Forgiving Fridays: A Forgiving Vacation – and a Blessing! – ForgivingConnects

  33. Your line about not looking too deeply reminded me of the Indigo Girls: “The less I seek my source for some definitive/ the closer I am to fine”! 😆

    Love the honesty of your reflection and the heart of your haiku!

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  34. SMiLes.. mY friENd
    for A Deepest
    MetaPhysical
    Dread
    is a place
    where Dread
    is a welcome
    Friend then
    or any pain or
    feeling or other
    sense over nothing
    nothing at all piece
    of paper existence…
    tHeRe is pain and
    there is
    numb
    and there is
    Hell where there is all
    time at all and no Human
    Being as i that is pART oF aLL
    Every Second A Thousand Years
    A Bottomless pit with no rise but
    fall more fall more and fall more
    without
    even
    feeling
    A Joy of
    gravity down but it’s
    true i’ll never do Justice
    to either hell or heaven in
    words and that my friend is
    why i believe in no word or bible
    as an end to the means that is life aLL
    iN All CoLorS LiGHT sHadEs FaLL oF GreY
    BeYoNd RainBoW CoLorS buT iN wHiMsY
    FReE RiSiNG eYes i cry i try for it can and will
    be lonely in hell and even heaven too when tHeRe is
    no way
    to
    share
    reaLiTY
    but words
    of poetry that
    cry i try my friEnd
    anyway.. the water is nice
    These aLL Days in HeaVeN
    And Hell is just
    an opaque
    memory
    abyss
    lost
    shallow now in depths of Heaven..
    it’s true.. i’m glad i went to the other
    place too for it is true too not even demons
    would will volunteer
    for the
    Devil
    is the
    i that lives tHeRE mY FriEnd..
    true..three ‘they’ aren’t selling tickets
    that was probably my only chance to go..
    and
    come
    back even more..:)

    Liked by 1 person

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