Pain shared is pain halved

Wow, a two day funk. That's the first one I've had since I arrived here. I recognize some contributing factors, but do you know what pulled me out of it? A friend, some Ziggy Marley, and a couple beers. In vino, veritas. Reggae is soulfood for me, and I am pleasantly surprised by how dependant I have become on my friends.

Why do I like depending on friends? Because I never have before. I do believe humans are social creatures, like wolves, lions, dogs, ants, and bees. I have not been a social creature for a very long time. I have always maintained one, two, even three friendships at a time, but have also generally stayed either with who ever was my partner at the time, or by myself. I have thought of myself, at the risk of being trite, as a "lone wolf". I have placed high value on being able to function without needing others. Looking back on the last 20 or so years, I think it was a good thing to learn, and also I think I was denying a genetic need, with some nearly catastrophic consequences.

So now I have several friends. Most of them don't live here, and I spend a lot of time texting, or emailing. This may seem silly to those of you who grew up with the web, but I am proud to say that I played pong on the original atari, and owned a commorore 64. Actually a 128, but that's being elitist. Point is, the internet is going to be the single most important factor in the catapulting of our evolution as a species since fire. We are a now a world community, and our collective conscious is still trying to catch up with the technology. I have a web of friends now, a network of people I like, who like me in return. People who I can stay current with on the details of our lives, even though we live on different continents. That is absolutely amazing, if you take a minute to think about it.

Again, it was AA where I learned the expression that pain shared is pain halved. They probably got it from somewhere else too. After all, there is nothing new under the sun. I am experiencing a lot of stress at this time in my life. I have taken a leap of faith, and have been rewarded with a much stronger faith. Its not about religion, it's about life, and an order... a set of spiritual laws with a harmony and beauty that is beyond my understanding.

Nothing irritates me more than when someone tells me they know the truth. Study science, and you will learn that what you know is limited by what you have learned. Read philosophy, and you will learn that truth is in the mind of the speaker. Study life, and you will be amazed. The more you learn, the less you know.

I have learned a lot in my essentially solitary life. I can talk with you about sub atomic particles, chemistry and biology, medicine, art, religion, philosophy, carbeurators, and the weather. I like talking. I like people, and I like finding god in people. Now I am finding I like being able to talk with people who share similar and different views almost anytime I am willing to send a text. And I like knowing that I really don't know anything.

I owe thanks to my lovely Israeli bartender for having Ziggy on when I only stopped in to say hello. And to my Dad, who really pissed me off this morning by telling me he knows the answer. And especially to Ziggy, and his father, Bob, who spoke to me when I was younger, telling me that every little thing is gonna ba alright.

More on the catastrauphic consequences later...