02a-More Stories (Allegories)

Note: "As a literary device, an allegory in its most general sense is an extended metaphor. Allegory has been used widely throughout the histories of all forms of art, largely because it readily illustrates complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible to its viewers, readers, or listeners. Allegories are typically used as literary devices or rhetorical devices that convey hidden meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey.^[1]"

^"Etymology[edit]

Salvator Rosa: Allegory of Fortune, representing Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, with the horn of plenty

First attested in English in 1382, the word allegory comes from Latin allegoria, the latinisation of theGreekἀλληγορία (allegoria), "veiled language, figurative,"^[3] which in turn comes from both ἄλλος (allos), "another, different"^[4] and ἀγορεύω (agoreuo), "to harangue, to speak in the assembly"^[5]which originate from ἀγορά (agora), "assembly".^[6]"

^{the above are quotes from Wikipedia.}

The interpretation of my artistic expression is up to your allegoresis.

Definition of ALLEGORESIS

": the interpretation of written, oral, or artistic expression as allegory" This is a quote from a Google search for allegoresis definition.

Swimming with Sharks

Are you ready to put your life into the hands of strangers? Do you think of what could happen, might happen if you stray into places where there may be gangs, thugs and other ilk? You should. Think long and hard about it. Especially if you grew up like me sheltered mostly, protected from that element, naive about how inherently evil and dastardly men (and women) can be. Yes, below I've written about how "Life is a Carnival"; however, this is a completely different deep sea swimming with great whites type of thing. If there are two paths and one is longer but does not go near cliffs bordering canyons and can be fatal and treacherous then maybe the other path that has similar views is the better option. Sometimes walking on the wild side is not all it is cracked up to be especially if that wild thing bites and maims or kills.

Reality Bits and Bites

What is your reality? The demands of husband, wife, children, friends, work, just life in general are all intrusive and ignorant of your wants and needs. So you are experiencing stress due to the demands and pressures all these lovely people are placing on you. Are you responsible for their happiness? Maybe but maybe not. Let’s examine this closer. Your realities are the demands you place on yourself, not what others put on you. You own your reality they do not so they can only intrude if you allow or let them. They require your permission they are not entitled. You are a beautiful and wonderful human being and they should be happy just having you in their life, living in the same house or space in this world. So the next time someone demands something of you even if it is work be tactful yet own your own reality. Say perhaps to them something like, I understand you require this right away and I will get it to you as fast as humanly possible. Then be a human and take the time to do it correctly and if it takes longer than they wanted then it is their problem. Tell them that you wanted to do a great job not a half assed one and that great work takes time so you took the time to do it right. After all it is your reality, not theirs; and don’t let them take over your reality. Make them visitors in your domain

Life is a Carnival

Oh, to be a child again and see the world with the wonder, amazement, curiosity and with a fresh mind set and ideals in place. We've become bitter, cynical adults that are used, jaded and scarred. One of the great things in life is just the experience, the heft, the feel and give and take of it. So if you live each day looking for things that vibrate or jive within us, we can follow our hearts and know with a surety of whether it is right for us. Your inner self is your guide and look for those things and people that bring out the authentic-ness of you and the true-ness of yourself. You will know, just feel it within your bones what is the right thing to do and what is not. Don't let others persuade you, find out for yourself. True, in this carnival we call life there are trash and trinkets that do not last but sometimes we want them just for the little time they will last. They bring us pleasure or joy until they break then we may procure a better one or move on to something else that catches our fancy. So how do we know that we are not just like butterflies flitting around without a true purpose. That is what they call smelling the roses. Sometimes the best path is not the straightest, sometimes one must explore options just to see what's around the bend. So if you find a ride that you enjoy at the carnival you may ride it many times, or just once if it makes you sick and you decide it is not for you. Sometimes you may return to a ride that in your youth scared you and now you enjoy it. Was the ride bad? No, just not right for you at that time. Timing may be the ultimate determinate. Since mood as well as the level of our engagement may make what was once a chore not a pleasure. So experiment in this lab of life. Combine those ingredients that will reward you richly but also dabble on the side on your own. Mixing two noxious gases or elements will probably yield something that is not worth experiencing; however, if you use your wisdom and insight you may hit upon a curious mix of items that may not please anyone else but may please you. Don't let others guide your hand too often, sometimes you just have to let things happen that happen and learn from that experience. It may be as rewarding or entertaining as you thought it would be and it may prove to be a life's lesson that was invaluable yet maybe sad. The worst sadness I have experienced in my life was feeling like I was not wanted even though at the time both of my parents fought over custody of me. I was a pawn, a paycheck (child support or non-payment of child support), I did not feel loved. So consequently out of that great experience I value being loved and wanted and cherished for myself, not just what benefits I bring with me. An invaluable lesson that tragically started at my earliest memory was my mom and dad shouting at each other in the kitchen and me crying at their feet. There was not much happiness that I can remember in my first few years of life. So now I treasure happiness and smiling and being around those people that make me feel good and safe and comfortable. Ride every ride in the carnival, sample this and that, eat different foods; trust me tastes change over a life time and I now eat things I never thought I would eat when I was a teenager. Only you can decide what is best for you and how you want to live. Having someone dictate to you the terms and rules and thought patterns you should adopt restricts you and your experience. Sometimes you have to listen to the most important person in the world. Yourself.

Right or Wrong, Conceptualizing Each

Today I was listening to a conversation between my mother-in-law and my wife. Without divulging the conversation I was particularly struck by the words, "That ain't right." which came out of my mother-in-law's mouth. So as they talked on my mind wandered around thinking about this concept that something is or is not right because someone else says it is one or the other. I wondered so who decides what is right? Is this verdict handed down for us to swallow whether we like it or not? Are we little children that do not know or chose to ignore the differences between right and wrong as told to them by a parent. We have been handed these platitudes and have lived them growing up for so long that we have forgotten to think for ourselves. In your heart you can feel if something is right or wrong and that decision is pertinent to you and only you. Someone else may have a different belief and often do. You cannot control them and far be it for me to let them control me. Act for yourself and answer to yourself. You know if you have crossed a line you feel it somewhere within your body. Figure out what body part is speaking to you and then when that root of feeling is found; own it, feel it, believe it and make it yours since it was given to you by yourself. Part of the hardest part of life is believing in yourself enough to do the right thing that we often listen to others concept of right and follow them and not ourselves. It just seems interesting and selfish for me to want to tell you what is right for you or vice versa. And when your decision is made as to what is right then you must live with it and its' consequences and those consequences will help guide you on whether to continue to follow that course of decision or to depart from it and try another right decision. We all have the right to make our own decisions and that alone is right. Everything else is consequences for ourselves and others. So try it sometime, maybe even today.

I love this saying:

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” Buddha quotes (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.) And no, I am not a Buddhist. I am not anything but myself.

The Secret of Pearl Rock

Legends and treasures did exist in this world we both knew it; those things might as well live on another planet they seemed so distant and far away to two Iowa boys but that did not stop us talking and dreaming about them.

To be continued here.

Suddenly it caught my eye, there is the stream next to a buried rusty tin can was a whitish thing that looked very round. I thought it might be a baseball from the size of it and the roundness. Once it was plucked from the stream and we both eyed it and the mud was rubbed off of it there it was a white rock that was extremely round. It was fantastic and amazing. Somehow it did not feel dense enough for a rock but it looked like a quartz white rock that we had found before when my family was in Keokuk we’d found a geode and the exterior looked similar to that but whiter. It was so much whiter than a geode. That geode in Iowa my father had taken a hammer to it later in the garage (with us both wearing safety glasses) and the crystals inside were not spectacular except to a boy of my age at that time those crystals were like diamonds. I treasured that geode and still have it. I've since seen some that were so beautiful and delicate that hitting them with a hammer might have shattered what was inside so one has to be careful with a find like that. Anyway back to the present. Yes it was a present it seemed but also it was the here and now as well. It had all the anticipation of a treasure chest and the expectation of the secrets lurking inside waiting to be discovered.

To be continued...

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