The Genie

A fisherman caught in his net a copper bottle with a lead cap. The bottle contained a powerful genie. The genie, once released, said to the fisherman:
- 'Ask for three wishes and I will give them to you. Which is your first wish?'
- 'I would like you to make me intelligent enough to make a perfect choice of the other two wishes', said the fisherman.
- 'Done', said the genie. 'Now, which are your other two wishes?'

The fisherman reflected for a moment and said:
- 'Thank you. I don't have wishes anymore.'

______________________________

Un pescador cogió en su red una botella de cobre con el tapón de plomo. La botella contenía un genio todopoderoso. El genio, una vez liberado, le dijo al pescador:
- Pide tres deseos y yo te los daré. ¿Cuál es tu primer deseo?
- Me gustaría que me hicieras lo bastante inteligente como para hacer una elección perfecta de los otros dos deseos - dijo el pescador.
- Hecho - dijo el genio - ahora, ¿cuáles son tus otros dos deseos?
El pescador reflexionó un momento y dijo:
- Gracias. No tengo más deseos.

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No Pill Required

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal was titled 'There's No Pill for This Kind of Depression'; in this article the author noted a rising pandemic of fear within the minds of ordinary people. Yet it was not only about the economy. It was something more:

the economy isn't the only reason for our unease. There's more to it. People sense something slipping away, a world receding, not only an economic one but a world of old structures, old ways and assumptions. People don't talk about this much because it's too big...

...So where does that leave us? The writer and philosopher Laurens van der Post, in his memoir of his friendship with Carl Jung, said, "We live not only our own lives but, whether we know it or not, also the life of our time." We are actors in a moment of history, taking part in it, moving it this way or that as we move forward or back. The moment we are living now is a strange one, a disquieting one, a time that seems full of endings.

Too bad there's no pill for that.

Perceptive comments for a mainstream media. Yes, we are living a time now that is full of endings... yet we don't need a pill: what is required is for new facilities of perception to emerge. We need a 'new mind for a new world'. The glasses we used to wear are out of focus; we need to return them to the case, and lock the lid. They won't serve us any more...

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A Writer in Andalusia

The front door of the house looks anonymous - just a small door at the end of a small narrow street. Opening the front door you step into the cool patio area... where there is silence and plants and the hopeful spray of sunlight... the visitor is welcomed....


The first door you come to on the left is where the writer in Andalusia (WiA) has his habitation... should you enter in - to peer? to disturb? to wonder? Instead, the visitor glances around this secluded courtyard....


Across they see the only other habitation - a second house which stands empty and deserted. In the middle a small lemon tree waits to bud... waits to seed new lemons to hang from its branches... the visitor casts a glance again...



...the solitary chair looks deserted too... the sitter scared away perhaps? the WiA hitting a mental block that catalyzes disappearance? Look more...




The courtyard shows traces of a presence..... so the visitor peeks through the door of the little house... and sees the stairs leading up.....


...yet feeling uninvited the visitor leaves the prying and returns outside... and wanders down some strange steps that lead away from the courtyard and into a cave tunnel... where could they possibly go...?




...Follow the sunlight and the tunnel emerges out into.... an inviting terrace.... a hidden gem away from all expectations....




Looking around the visitor sees it is a perfect place for seclusion.... a writer's retreat high up on the cliffside.... hugging the cliff wall and looking out onto the Andalusian landscape...



...from every angle the distance melts away and makes the visitor wonder what the hills know... what Nature knows... and the mind begins to wander too...



...The rocks fall far below... there is no way forward.. only retreat... is this the place where one should hide out? Can the rocks keep secrets?....




And somewhere.... amidst the ominous silence, thoughts are wrangled day and night... and energies are never left to disperse like orphans... as each bit of tender energy is directed towards its destination... there is Work to be done....

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