SERIOUS GRAVITY (A SANITY PRIMER)

Words will carry us somehow toward the clear, cold, pure, untouched spring.... out of thick foliage stumbling...  arms thrashing, cursing, confused... panting for air... a conversation of sorts a kind of speech that follows upon chaos scratches, cuts and the ripping of socks... a confused running, a sprint... down the uninvited path each a dead end with paradise in view brown barks, Nature's fence... sharp and prickly, walls of green the creepers rising up at us,  harsh branches... savage vines to trip upon... a blazing sun, the mind-fogging heat... I want to say that words can save us... heralding togetherness and a plan of sorts... Diving in water,  exuberant,  the goal of hydration, rest, some much-needed healing relaxation... the time redeemed... Yet something else then and there at the moment of crisis.. yanks the mind into gear a gravity of necessity.... just some garble of unremembered toil...

 . .. thinking about the " collage effect " of media, the bombardment of images and their "immersive" quality, putting us into the crucible of the moment,  grabbing us with the choicest morsels - those stories that blot out or at least overshadow those other minor goings-on of the day,  kidnapping our attention with an urgent, burning, breathless,  aesthetic of now... Look at the headlines...a massive mushroom-cloud-like explosion in Beirut, Lebanon - followed by protests and rioting, most of the city in ruins, the entire government resigning...a fraudulent stolen election in Belarus , another corrupt autocrat still in power....more protests by night...a clamp-down in Hong Kong , an "Apple daily newspaper owner" arrested and later released on bail... another police shooting in the States... stores in Chicago  looted overnight.... Portland demonstrations...clashes with police...slap-dash executive orders, a relief bill still on hold....school re-openings go...

You know the drill, of how, someone, from afar, looks at someone else (usually a famous person), and has them instantly pegged, not just as a certain type, not as a simple category, but an entire life-story, expecting them from that moment on to fulfill the narrative and live up to expectations...The story somehow in our hands, somehow confirming our best worst suspicions...This celeb, from afar, this instantly recognizable, handsome, beautifully relaxed, confident, down-to-earth, elevated version of ourselves, living out the dream...We bump into them despite ourselves, reminded of their youthful looks, their perfect face and hair, the clothes, the house, the dog, their inimitable speech patterns, their quotable quotes,  their video appearances, their travel destinations...So much imposed upon this constructed image, not allowing it to be other than it seems....