Life with no thought of applause~ Thomas Merton
Impossible it sounds romantically ideal and cultural timely but let’s face it there is no way to live a life and not at least in a small desirous sense want applause for it I am not coming down on it at all not at all in fact I am arguing for the good of it I am standing in defense for the case of right-living in living for applause now don’t get me wrong I see the corruption and disgustingly cringe at the over-indulgent folks in any number of professions and paths small and grand who have come to abuse this otherwise ‘good’ sensibility it is about accountability when done well about platforming when abused but I want to argue for the former and see how I go seeing as how I am not an arguer and have never been known to hold much value in winning a fight or winning anything for that matter but maybe once the lottery that would be a nice bonus let’s see how I go here defending the rights of a life of seeking applause with my thesis being in favor of it for accountability reasons I’ve been under self-proclaimed house arrest for four weeks now three more to go give or take and I am deliciously delighting in it nearly every day I have had interruptions BnB guests John in and out a studio visit request and a friends stop-over but otherwise it is just me the paint the pencils the pans the flours and doughs the clay the glue the cardboard and the walls just me taking a walk returning to unbundle and gaze savouringly with anticipation around the space I get to occupy I’ve given myself license to revel in it for seven weeks It is for rejuvenating for sure but also for experimenting for sorting and for listening and leaning-into it is a great gift and I am not missing this fact but what I am coming to see in and around all this alone me time is the resonance of ‘out there’ and ‘other’ and ‘what of’ and ‘what’s up’ that pulsates just beyond the doors not just on the sidewalks and street physically beyond the doors but in the airwaves and cyber clicks that are any more a sure presence in the same way my toes at the tips of my feet are present I call it good and necessary as necessary as my toes to my feet and as good as walking when they are properly in place but it is in the forgetting of them and not to neglect but to the letting of life flow-on that they are most valued and for which I turn to argue the case for applause it is when as I am learning in this sabbatical time the applause of cyber recognition and presentation is allowed to serve as an extension a that aids in the walking ones path in life that they serve and add value to the body as a whole it is in getting to have the toes of technology allow for the applause of affirmation to work as a tool of accountability that they become great appendages of value integrity worth and actualization through just enough clicking to make sure we stay on our toes~