“Nietzsche said ~”you will often be lonely and sometimes frightened, but no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
I enjoy the anonymity of life, over here on the outside. A much better view than in the heart of the lion’s den. Actually, it’s not so lonely, there are still a few of us left.
Bring embedded in your landscape, in your world is far from being lonely. Even being alone is far from being lonely I suppose (especially with a canine pal knocking about).
Or having a Crow visit once a week , with his synapses sparking craw :)
To be on outside, looking in and knowing what has been , but hesitate to say is a lions feast, the gazelle and wildebeest as prey. A consumption that feeds faces smiles with indelible stains .
Hesitation is the child of fear, the sibling of uncertainty and the distant cousin of calm thought. Sometimes it is always wrong, sometimes it’s hard to know, and sometimes it saves us all.
But as you so poetically propose, Richard, when you know, and hesitate, it is most likely fear that stands the closest.
"Instead, we should struggle, and we should write, and we should open our eyes and dare to look and dare to see, so that one day, we may all gain that privilege of owning ourselves too."
The passion in this piece is just crackling, Jonathan. It's hard to live in a society that exploits us at the cost of everything else. It's even harder to remember how we too have danced with the devil in order to survive the day. Lions indeed.
There's only one dance these days and the Devil is the DJ. I know. It's insane.
"The passion in this piece is just crackling." That is a massive compliment because I'm trying to write something with meaning and passion, but I'm trying to write it with calm eyes too (crackling is just perfect). Thank you for seeing this Troy.
I am staggering in winder and awe at this piece of writing Jonathan… how intricately you have woven and dissected ‘need for acceptance’ ‘loneliness’ and then ‘owning self’.
The Nietzschéen quote could not be more perfect…
He also writes, “But I need solitude [Einsamkeit]—which is to say, recovery, return to myself, the breath of a free, light, playful air”
Perhaps our greatest gift in the search for self is to be selfless…? To be ignorant of the dictates of society…
"Perhaps our greatest gift in the search for self is to be selfless?" - I couldn't agree more Susie, which is why the powered classes current trend for feeding their insatiable ego's within this competitive and selfish social arena is such a dreadful error of ways.
Thank you so much for your kind comment as always. I think it's fascinating to write about the trends we are witnessing these days, but I don't want The Crow to become morose or maudlin, so I'm really grateful you mention the writing. Thanks Susie :)
Oh, that Nietzsche quote is perfect here. It is indeed lonely to be acutely aware of the mistruths so generally agreed to. But rather lovely, too, on some days. Great piece, Jonathan.
"Maybe the dead are the only ones who can fully grasp life." Oh, Jonathan...this reverberates for me because, on the one hand, I think this might be the case but, then there's that other hand, isn't there? The hand that knows "no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." That, right there, is what I pray for. That we own ourselves so well, that we are accountable for healing ourselves and loving ourselves and so on, because everything is a ripple. Well done, my friend, well done! XO
It is all very enticing and intoxicating this proximity to power/money/influence but in reality it is corrosive and corrupting of pretty much anything that is good. We are watching a lot of this play out in real time with the orange skinned monkey on trial.
Loneliness in a crowd is much more soul-sucking than standing outside, alone. 🙏
Absolutely, yes you’re right, 100%. Nothing more painful than irrelevance.
One of the drivers here on Substack is exactly that, the deep desire to be heard, to be seen, to be somebody.
Thanks for beckoning me in by reading and being here, Kimberly 🙏🏼
A utopian collective of misfits. So happy to be here.
A utopian collective of misfits - perfect
Tell her, for God's sake, tell her!!
I’m trying, for Gods sake, I’m trying! 😂
😂😂😂
“Nietzsche said ~”you will often be lonely and sometimes frightened, but no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
I enjoy the anonymity of life, over here on the outside. A much better view than in the heart of the lion’s den. Actually, it’s not so lonely, there are still a few of us left.
But you already know that.
Always sparking my synapses🧐
Bring embedded in your landscape, in your world is far from being lonely. Even being alone is far from being lonely I suppose (especially with a canine pal knocking about).
Or having a Crow visit once a week , with his synapses sparking craw :)
You have told the truth. A warning she will not hear because she does not want to.
That’s the game of lions. To imply enough to lure.
Yep, that social tide will lure some out to dangerous waters whether they want it or not. For the rest, luck?
Thought provoking...and the Nietzsche quote was perfect.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Christine. Glad you’ve found your way to The Crow 🙏🏼
To be on outside, looking in and knowing what has been , but hesitate to say is a lions feast, the gazelle and wildebeest as prey. A consumption that feeds faces smiles with indelible stains .
Hesitation is the child of fear, the sibling of uncertainty and the distant cousin of calm thought. Sometimes it is always wrong, sometimes it’s hard to know, and sometimes it saves us all.
But as you so poetically propose, Richard, when you know, and hesitate, it is most likely fear that stands the closest.
A saying that I think comes comes from reading Hamlet: He who hesitates, is lost.
"Instead, we should struggle, and we should write, and we should open our eyes and dare to look and dare to see, so that one day, we may all gain that privilege of owning ourselves too."
The passion in this piece is just crackling, Jonathan. It's hard to live in a society that exploits us at the cost of everything else. It's even harder to remember how we too have danced with the devil in order to survive the day. Lions indeed.
There's only one dance these days and the Devil is the DJ. I know. It's insane.
"The passion in this piece is just crackling." That is a massive compliment because I'm trying to write something with meaning and passion, but I'm trying to write it with calm eyes too (crackling is just perfect). Thank you for seeing this Troy.
I am staggering in winder and awe at this piece of writing Jonathan… how intricately you have woven and dissected ‘need for acceptance’ ‘loneliness’ and then ‘owning self’.
The Nietzschéen quote could not be more perfect…
He also writes, “But I need solitude [Einsamkeit]—which is to say, recovery, return to myself, the breath of a free, light, playful air”
Perhaps our greatest gift in the search for self is to be selfless…? To be ignorant of the dictates of society…
"Perhaps our greatest gift in the search for self is to be selfless?" - I couldn't agree more Susie, which is why the powered classes current trend for feeding their insatiable ego's within this competitive and selfish social arena is such a dreadful error of ways.
Thank you so much for your kind comment as always. I think it's fascinating to write about the trends we are witnessing these days, but I don't want The Crow to become morose or maudlin, so I'm really grateful you mention the writing. Thanks Susie :)
Oh, that Nietzsche quote is perfect here. It is indeed lonely to be acutely aware of the mistruths so generally agreed to. But rather lovely, too, on some days. Great piece, Jonathan.
Yes, you’re right Holly, with a little mindfulness there is always loveliness to be gathered from life’s pastures. Thanks so much for reading :)
"Maybe the dead are the only ones who can fully grasp life." Oh, Jonathan...this reverberates for me because, on the one hand, I think this might be the case but, then there's that other hand, isn't there? The hand that knows "no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." That, right there, is what I pray for. That we own ourselves so well, that we are accountable for healing ourselves and loving ourselves and so on, because everything is a ripple. Well done, my friend, well done! XO
…and doing all those things in a kind community of mutually dependent ripples, like the social creature we are ;:)
It is all very enticing and intoxicating this proximity to power/money/influence but in reality it is corrosive and corrupting of pretty much anything that is good. We are watching a lot of this play out in real time with the orange skinned monkey on trial.
Exactly Wes, you’d think little Donny Sleepyhead would be warning enough to anyone 😂