Living life like a Bullfighting festival
A strange title for a strange post in a strange dragon's blog. I need to start with some disclaiming otherwise we will get off on the wrong paw, er foot. Normally, we dragons don't care to disclaim, because we are big, mean and deadly. If you don't like what we have to say, well that's not exactly our problem, but I am trying to reach out to people and that requires a more delicate touch, thus the disclaimers.
First and foremost, the philosophy of the Bull fighting festival is not original to Jack Dragon. In fact, I lifted it from Mexico by James Michener. This book is essentially about a three day bull fighting festival and Michener expounds on how the three days of the festival all carry different feelings with them. I've taken this explanation and applied it as a life Philosophy, that part is my own though the original idea is borrowed.
This brings us to the second disclaimer, on bullfighting in general. Many see this as a barbaric sport, but I think it is misunderstood. Having attended a bull fight, not an easy thing for a dragon to do, I learned something that I did not previously know, the bull can win. It doesn't happen often, but when a bull fights very well, the crowd can signal, via waving white cloths, that they would like the bull to 'win'. If the crowd gets their way, the bull will spend the rest of his life living in a nice pasture and siring offspring. Considering that most bulls in the rest of the world end up slaughtered for meat, I think that the chance to fight for a life of leisure and sex is probably the better deal. But then again I might just be thinking like a dragon.
Michener tells us that day two is the best day of a bull fighting festival. On day one we spend our time getting acquainted with our surrounding, learning the schedules and the lay of the land, and meeting new people. On day three we are preparing for departure, saying goodbyes and already thinking about what we must do when we get home. But on day two we know our surroundings, have friends about us and nothing to do but enjoy ourselves. Day two is where we can live in the moment and it is where we make the memories that we will always look back on fondly. And there in lies the life lesson, always live as much as life as possible in day 2.
Now the problem is that we dragons generally live in day 3 while people are often dwellers in day 1. The difference here is one of the nature of being a dragon. We dragons live forever which means that everything, except our lives, will have an end to it. We do not enter into anything, be it a festival, some type of dragon labor (yes we dragons do have work that needs done), or a friendship, without knowing that it will come to end at some point. This can sometimes overshadow everything in that we spend our time preparing ourselves for the end rather than enjoying the time we have. People on the other hand seem oblivious to ends. They spend all there time trying to make things better or railing on the fact that it isn't. And every day spent in day 1 is a day lost from day 2.
And the solution to the problems lies in day 4. Because day 4 will come and spending extra time in day 1 or day 3 will neither delay nor stop this from happening. Day 4 is when we sit back and think about which we have done. Without those day 2 memories, we are left with very little.
And so we come to my advice, live every possible minute in day 2. If you are raising kids (or dragonlings), don't waste all your time trying to make them or everything around them perfect, spend your time enjoying them for what they are in that moment. Don't worry about the fact that they will be starting kindergarten soon, or riding a bicycle, driving a car, or graduation. Rather enjoy them as they are, because when they're no longer kids you won't be able to get that moment back and you won't be fondly remembering your worries or how much time you spent trying to make everything perfect. And here's a hint, neither will they.
So it is with everything else you do. When you go on vacation, leave all the troubles of your real life behind as soon as you step on the plane. You can pick them up when you arrive back at your home airport, along with your luggage, but not a moment sooner. If you are in highschool love it for what it is, and don't dwell on how it's not like middle school or how great college is going to be. In college, forget highschool, but don't think about the real world until you need to. Everything will come to you in time, all you can decide is how to make the memories, those crystal clear flawless moments, that you will keep for a lifetime.
And that is how this dragon lives his life, and it is the rule he trys to use when making friends. Because some friends will last a lifetime, but many will be lost along the way. If you don't know fully what I mean, see my post on being a dragon. I take each friendship and try to spend every moment we have together in day 2. Because day 3 almost always comes, but if I were to spend my time thinking about that, I would have so much less to treasure when it is all gone. And sometimes day 3 comes too fast, and we get kicked in the teeth because we weren't expecting it. But that is why we dragons have our treasure troves and quiet caves to sleep away our pain...
A strange title for a strange post in a strange dragon's blog. I need to start with some disclaiming otherwise we will get off on the wrong paw, er foot. Normally, we dragons don't care to disclaim, because we are big, mean and deadly. If you don't like what we have to say, well that's not exactly our problem, but I am trying to reach out to people and that requires a more delicate touch, thus the disclaimers.
First and foremost, the philosophy of the Bull fighting festival is not original to Jack Dragon. In fact, I lifted it from Mexico by James Michener. This book is essentially about a three day bull fighting festival and Michener expounds on how the three days of the festival all carry different feelings with them. I've taken this explanation and applied it as a life Philosophy, that part is my own though the original idea is borrowed.
This brings us to the second disclaimer, on bullfighting in general. Many see this as a barbaric sport, but I think it is misunderstood. Having attended a bull fight, not an easy thing for a dragon to do, I learned something that I did not previously know, the bull can win. It doesn't happen often, but when a bull fights very well, the crowd can signal, via waving white cloths, that they would like the bull to 'win'. If the crowd gets their way, the bull will spend the rest of his life living in a nice pasture and siring offspring. Considering that most bulls in the rest of the world end up slaughtered for meat, I think that the chance to fight for a life of leisure and sex is probably the better deal. But then again I might just be thinking like a dragon.
Michener tells us that day two is the best day of a bull fighting festival. On day one we spend our time getting acquainted with our surrounding, learning the schedules and the lay of the land, and meeting new people. On day three we are preparing for departure, saying goodbyes and already thinking about what we must do when we get home. But on day two we know our surroundings, have friends about us and nothing to do but enjoy ourselves. Day two is where we can live in the moment and it is where we make the memories that we will always look back on fondly. And there in lies the life lesson, always live as much as life as possible in day 2.
Now the problem is that we dragons generally live in day 3 while people are often dwellers in day 1. The difference here is one of the nature of being a dragon. We dragons live forever which means that everything, except our lives, will have an end to it. We do not enter into anything, be it a festival, some type of dragon labor (yes we dragons do have work that needs done), or a friendship, without knowing that it will come to end at some point. This can sometimes overshadow everything in that we spend our time preparing ourselves for the end rather than enjoying the time we have. People on the other hand seem oblivious to ends. They spend all there time trying to make things better or railing on the fact that it isn't. And every day spent in day 1 is a day lost from day 2.
And the solution to the problems lies in day 4. Because day 4 will come and spending extra time in day 1 or day 3 will neither delay nor stop this from happening. Day 4 is when we sit back and think about which we have done. Without those day 2 memories, we are left with very little.
And so we come to my advice, live every possible minute in day 2. If you are raising kids (or dragonlings), don't waste all your time trying to make them or everything around them perfect, spend your time enjoying them for what they are in that moment. Don't worry about the fact that they will be starting kindergarten soon, or riding a bicycle, driving a car, or graduation. Rather enjoy them as they are, because when they're no longer kids you won't be able to get that moment back and you won't be fondly remembering your worries or how much time you spent trying to make everything perfect. And here's a hint, neither will they.
So it is with everything else you do. When you go on vacation, leave all the troubles of your real life behind as soon as you step on the plane. You can pick them up when you arrive back at your home airport, along with your luggage, but not a moment sooner. If you are in highschool love it for what it is, and don't dwell on how it's not like middle school or how great college is going to be. In college, forget highschool, but don't think about the real world until you need to. Everything will come to you in time, all you can decide is how to make the memories, those crystal clear flawless moments, that you will keep for a lifetime.
And that is how this dragon lives his life, and it is the rule he trys to use when making friends. Because some friends will last a lifetime, but many will be lost along the way. If you don't know fully what I mean, see my post on being a dragon. I take each friendship and try to spend every moment we have together in day 2. Because day 3 almost always comes, but if I were to spend my time thinking about that, I would have so much less to treasure when it is all gone. And sometimes day 3 comes too fast, and we get kicked in the teeth because we weren't expecting it. But that is why we dragons have our treasure troves and quiet caves to sleep away our pain...
posted by Jack Dragon at 12:01 PM
1 Comments:
After reading this entry I find myself envying you and your ability to sleep away pain and loss.
As humans are unable to do so often go to great lengths in different directions, either avoiding acknowledging the pain or simply closing ourselves off so as to prevent the chance of pain.
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