Faceless Elasticity

Friends of mine give the moments of their lives to the enjoyment and enrichment of neigbourliness via social interaction - religious school training, community singing groups, professional philosophical advice for professional military leaders - and they expect no extra payment for their giving.  They treat praise and silent appreciation equally.

One friend, Joe, looks out from a church choir to see the smiling, singing faces of a congregation looking back at him and knows there is no price for such social engagement other than a nod or a word or two of conversation in his driveway a few days later when receiving a yellowed newspaper clipping announcing his and his wife's wedding 50 years ago.  And no, he wouldn't trade his classic green 1960s Ford Mustang for the clipping.

While "modernising" my mother in-law's house interiour (new paint/door handles on kitchen cabinets, new power outlets/switches, new bathroom faucets, new ceiling lights, and other "honey-do" items) in a phase of spring renewal (what else can you do for a 92-year young woman who has all she's ever wanted or needed?), I pause and feel the pleasure of the simple pleasures of small town life ...

Meeting old friends who like to help my mother in-law fix up her house - new water heater, new walk-in shower - who find their days filled with too much work to fish idly.

Watching two planets in the evening sky, wondering at the vastness of our solar system, seeing two planets on opposite sides of the Sun, and unable to fathom what a light-year really means to tiny bipeds on a small planet in an unimaginably huge galaxy.

All the myths and legends about the photon streams we choose to call stars like our sun.

Jennifer with her cheerful smile at the local Wal-Mart.

Needing to stop at Henard's, Liberty or the local electrical supply store for solid copper wire to fix an old in-wall electric heater.

Oblivious to the major changes taking place in other parts of the world.

While individuals and nations debate the merits of freedom, we exercise the freedom to live our lives within socially-acceptable community standards that are vaguely/barely touched on by outside societies.

Happiness is a community that glosses over historical mistakes and treats those living together in the present with respect for our cordiality and desire to do right without resorting to high ideals, useless labels or petty namecalling to put space between us.

Hugs and handshakes.  Smiles and nods.  No language necessary.

In my head I carry dozens of cultures/subcultures/communities.  I do not understand why some people live the lives they choose (for instance, I couldn't imagine having protrusions embedded in my skull or go on life-threatening pilgrimages) but I understand we express individual freedom individually.

Social experimentation at the single person level.  That's where it begins.

You have the freedom to put the past behind you while learning about history at the same time.  Every moment is a new moment, completely free of the moment previous to the previous one.  Rare is the person who can completely change from one moment to another to another continuously but you can change from one moment to the next if you choose.

I've stepped out of the mainstream of consciousness for a few days to see life from the local perspective.  If I can't live in the local environment, I can't live anywhere.

I must admit I like it here.  I like the peace and quiet of local life, with local issues and local politics.

We should all see life on the local level, frequently, instead of getting caught up in large social movements that may or may not involve us at a personal level but make us feel temporarily part of something bigger than ourselves.

No matter whether you consider yourself a citizen of a corporation, a nation-state, or the globe, you live in a local community.

Keeping it real, as someone said.  That's what it's all about.

Reaching out to friends across the street and across the virtual universe.  I ask nothing more of you than that.