Spiral (3)

I don’t know whether I have done justice to what is called the first tier of the spiral.

I keep an eye on the numbers of people reading my blogs and I know that the past couple have not gone down very well; partially because ‘spiral’ doesn’t mean that much and equally I guess, as it is potentially quite a turgid topic (to some!).

How to reconcile?

Part of the reason for my blogs, which have been going-on for over four years, has been to express what is in my head; to put down in binary-code my impressions of the world. And, given this, the spiral (should this be ‘Spiral’ or ‘spiral’? I don’t want to give too much credit or attention to something that is equivalent to ‘skeleton’ – it is the human and their humanity that matters, not the structure) (I’ll go for spiral).

Sorry… to continue! The spiral is and has been occupying my thoughts recently, particularly as I travel round Israel with my son, seeing people who appear as such stark representations not necessarily at different stages of the spiral (of which I promise to say more), but who dress and behave so differently – here are some examples;

Israeli schoolchildren on day-trip; each with sun hat.

Arab schoolchildren day trip, hatless and happy.

Jewish schoolgirls, hatless, stocking tights, trainers and loud.

All groups happy, exuberant.

Jewish men, tzitzit, stripped-off before plunge into the water.

Arab man, casual clothes, T-shirt and jeans.

Muslim woman, head to toe covered-up.

Homeless woman, hoodie and black feet, shop vendor, fisherman, Greek Orthodox priest – you name it and it is here; shirtless Israeli, early morning health-walk; over-loud American Bar Mitzvah party, celebrating with fireworks. Arab man tossing bread to hungry fish as his grand-children laugh.

A complex harmony.

And, given that everyone is getting-on; no one is fighting, just calm and peace, it does feel a little, not necessarily like a spiral, but an organised representation of who we are.

Differing points of view, styles of dress, talk, language, all, occupying the same space.

Self-organising.

Superficial simplicity and internal complexity.

Has any of this helped?

As the blog is and hasn’t served any purpose up until now other than me expressing myself, I suppose this hasn’t done any harm. It is likely that this is less confusing than the initial spiral foray; there you go.

Back to the spiral.

I don’t feel I have done justice to the first rung.

So much has been written about teal and all the rest, I believe the early stages have been neglected.

(Oh, just to re-emphasise before I leave this for good; this is all just one way of seeing things, it isn’t the way.)

Echoes of Bruce Lee.

It is like focusing on the top of the pyramid and neglecting the base, where all the pressure if concentrated.

Therefore, I am not moving-on, I am going to paint another base-layer.

Level one.

Family.

It is more than this.

It is survival.

Our instinct to wake in the morning and do something.

Our search for meaning or association with a more concrete or substantial essence; yes, that was obscure, but, how do you bring into words something that is lost in time, potentially there, before the development of language, of society.

As a species we all passed through this early level of being, in the womb and during our first days of clinging to mama.

It is inescapable and, it is where we return when everything else has fallen away, when we are standing naked, when we are faced with threats that are overwhelming – trauma, tragedy, violence, fear.

When the walls are falling-down you might consider calling the rescue services, but very quickly you realise that the thing to do is – run. Panic, reflexive responses to existential threat takes us out of ourselves, away from refinements of language and society; staggering from the ruins of a terrorist attack or lying helpless in hospital recovering from sepsis or surgery; it is us and the elements, us and our basic physiological and psychological ability to be that maintains us; our heart beats, we breathe, thermo-regulate. Nothing else matters.

This is the first tier.

This is stripping away the layers of culture, education and religious heritage.

Most of us do not return to this place except in our dreams and, whether that is good I don’t know. Perhaps if every person saw themselves for who they are, naked before god or evolution they might not spend so much time worrying about the transience of possession or achievement. Not to say that these things aren’t important, just, there is more than that. More than the big car, big house or five-star hotel.

Have a good day.