don't postpone joy.

The truth is a hard thing to arrive decisively at in any situation due to the inexplicable complexities inherent in all our lives. But what happens to the truth when we are confronted by the finality of death, when we are forced to acknowledge a world forever minus the person we knew and have only the past from which to arrive at conclusions? 

That happens when people die- the argument with them drops away and people so flawed when they were drawing breath that at times they were all but unbearable now assert themselves in a most appealing way, and what was least to your liking the day before becomes in the limo behind the hearse a cause not only for sympathetic amusement but for admiration. In which estimate lies the greater reality- the uncharitable one permitted us before the funeral, forged, without any claptrap, in the skirmish of daily life, or the one that suffuses us with sadness at the family gathering afterward- even an outsider can’t judge. The sight of a coffin going into the ground can effect a great change of heart- all at once you find you are not so disappointed with this person who is dead- but what the sight of a coffin does for the mind in its search for truth- this, says Philip Roth (via Nathan Zuckerman in American Pastoral) I do not profess to know. 

Since as of the status quo it seems inevitable that we all shall take our leave from the stage of life I think it could do wonders if we take it upon ourselves to, while we have the time and ability to interact, drop the resentment felt for the flaws in others and perhaps give less weight to this great mystery of the truth about one another. If instead we expend efforts in enjoying the quirks that other people have to offer and ignore the nonsense involved with all the negativity we can bring to the table then rather than searching for the truth, for the greater reality we can embrace a present reality to recall with a smile, ftw. 

HBO’s series “Six Feet Under,” which aired its five seasons from 2001-2005 opens each episode with the death of someone whose funeral is taken care of by the show’s main characters, the Fisher family, in their LA funeral home. This backdrop for the drama provides a framework within which death illuminates the relationships, hardships, victories, and really the lives of the characters in a darkly humorous and rather thought-provoking manner. When confronted with the lowering of coffins and final goodbyes on a daily basis the effects of death upon the minds and recollections of those planning and attending the funeral, the Fisher family’s personal struggles to grapple with life in productive and destructive ways, and the emotional as well as physical implications of being “six feet under” are analyzed to a degree unavailable to most people in their daily lives.

I am currently at the beginning of season 2 and am looking forward to the series finale- touted by critics as one of the best and most tear-inducing of all time- even as I want to slow down before the entire story unfolds. I believe that through this phenomenal creation by Alan Ball (True Blood, American Beauty, Towelhead) and the portrayal of the Fisher family by Peter Krause (currently on Parenthood), Michael C. Hall (currently on Dexter), and the rest of the talented cast will provide further insight into what death does to our perceptions of the truth, what living is all about, and other recondite conclusions. 

What constitutes genius, the agent that forms originality, is the force within a creator’s mind that responds to and brings forth a novel and striking aspect of nature. It is part of humanity’s mission to use our imagination- that incredible power we have at our disposal to carry any specific reaction or feeling into other situations- and combine it with sympathy, passion, and original interest to form new and unknown combinations that will alter previous views. The hold such a feeling has grasped onto the mind results in an impression which, in some manner proves indelible and is not alone shaped by reason or rules, but also by some unseen etchings on the hearts of humankind. 

Genius has the flexibility to encompass a wide range of interpretations. Genius is the objective insight into all of humanity’s qualities, unwarped and free of judgement from the creator’s purpose or preference; it demonstrates the power of seeing life through the eyes of others. Genius is curious and peculiar, exclusive and obstinate in its focus on excelling in a pursuit through blindness to all but its own existence, persevering over any limits placed by subjectivity on the imagination (though the limits are generally in proportion with the size, strength, and depth of the emotions) in spite of the narrowness of the view. Proper genius gives birth to a revelation, to a new pair of eyes with which we can look at common sights and finally see what we never saw before. Where we lack the ability to understand what is under our feet or sitting in front of us in plain sight, genius exists to expose a new view through what I call “The Reverse Chameleon”- rather than adopting or blending in with its surrounding, genius will lend its color all about it, so we may see it and exclaim and get excited and know it for maybe the first time. 

As Arthur Schopenhauer so wonderfully puts it, “Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

On Black Friday of this year, the glorified day after Thanksgiving set aside for massive sales, rather than going to the horribly crowded mall I chose to use my allocated funds for a worthier cause: justifying buying another bookcase. I assembled a long list of books I had been intending on purchasing because I loved them, because they were recommended to me by an esteemed opinion, and because I personally had cultivated an interest in possessing the work. I placed a rather hefty order, and have been receiving a steady stream of books for the past couple of weeks. 

I have now received all but few of these orders (still no Horns by Joe Hill- how is it that the first book on my mind and to be ordered is the last to arrive?) and read two I hadn’t previously read, much to my delight. 

These books included:
Seven Types of Ambiguity by Eliot Perlman
Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
The Human Stain by Philip Roth
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 
The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays by Albert Camus
The Plague by Camus
No Exit and other plays by Sartre
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Nausea by Sartre  
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey 

So this should provide a degree of foreshadowing regarding will likely trickle onto here in the upcoming posts.