I come out to the rocks because I can think there unfettered by useless distractions. In this place, I cannot be fooled. I cannot be distracted or tempted away or guilted into doing something. There is no cellphone here and no civilization. There are no stores to shop at and nothing in the form of entertainment. It’s a pretty desolate spot.
Desolation appears to be necessary in life. Our lives are not fueled by abundance and
plenty, but rather by lack and need. Not
many people living in opulence stop to wonder how they can improve their
situation. It’s lack and need that fuel
desire and ambition. It’s desolation
that gives rise to the poet’s emotions and the artist’s impressions.
 |
| A desolate spot. |
A certain amount of desolation, pain, and loneliness is
required to cultivate kindness, generosity, and friendship. If we were surrounded by the things we wanted
all the time--all the friendships we could ever desire, all the wealth,
clothing, money, food, etc., just everything--we would never develop need and want. And more’s the pity
for that. We would never know what
yearning is, what a burning desire and hope in the heart feel like.
We are surrounded by distractions that make us think we have more than we actually
do. They makes us think we have wealth and companionship, or at least they make us
too busy to realize that we don’t have wealth or companionship or, for many
people, even the basic needs of life.
Our distractions keep us busy. They
keep us entertained and forgetful.
Oddly enough, these distractions are in and of themselves a
hidden desolation. Like any desolation,
however, if properly recognized, they can be used to force us to think, to
force us to finally do what we need to do, to fuel our true desires and
ambitions. But that’s a difficult road
to go, and not many people can do it.
It’s too easy to get sucked back into the phony entertainment and tacky
glitter. It takes a lot to be able to
see through the utter nothingness of our modern distractions to the heart of
desolation.
So we go out and we find the lonely spots on Earth. We find the places where we are alone, where
we can just sit with the wind whipping at our backs as we stare out and make
our decisions about life, make our plans for the future, make peace with the Universe. We find the lonely places that help us to
make fresh starts, to commit once again to life. With our vision unclouded by the crass tinsel
and tawdry glitter of the modern world, we can finally see who we are.
And the only way to do this is to stand before the Universe with
no smokescreens, no distractions, nothing hiding us from the world or the world
from us. We can say what we’re thinking
out loud--very loudly, in fact. There’s
no one there to hear us. Except for
ourselves. Finally. That’s what the lonely, windy places bring
us. They bring us ourselves.
