Shrine of Whim

of being and dwelling in joy of the 'marvelous': an extraordinary aspect of life concealed in the everyday

[shrineofwhim]

[shrineofwhim]

Links between Perseus, Calvino and Nietzsche:

In his book 'Six Memos for the New Millenium', Calvino uses a myth as a metaphor in describing his lightness of writing within the context of a heaviness that the world presents to him in turn...

Calvino weaves into the victories of Perseus and how he defeats Medusa, whose head represents the realities of the world which so can drag us down. Calvino explains about Perseus: "his power derives from refusing to look directly while not denying the reality of the world of monsters in which he must live”. (Calvino, 1988, p. 6)

It would be interesting to know whether Nietzsche had read about the story of Perseus and Medusa in this light, because in 'Beyond Good and Evil', Nietzsche writes: “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby becomes a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” (Aphorism 146)

These two excerpts illustrate the very same thing in weight whilst Calvino gives us the lightness to go with Nietzsche's Aphorism.

The point is; we become what our mind focuses on. By focusing the mind on where we want to go, there we will go - and not in an automatic consequence of that being what we want. In the larger scheme of our reality, the mind's focus is the path we are threading, countless times until we do in actuality. Reality is tangibly and intangibly based on our consciousness.

The heaviness of the world is not aided by being the focus of attention (lest we become it), nor is it beneficial for the heaviness to be buried. Uncovered should the heaviness be, but like Perseus fighting Medusa, we do not look directly. With awareness, the focus is on where we need to go.

[andantegrazioso-deactivated2018]

Lisbon Portugal | audreyparisphoto

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[andhetakesandhetakesandhetakes]

[knowing]

[timbllr]

* by Alexey Dubinsky Via Flickr: instagram.com/alexeydubinsky/

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[coffeeandadvice]

[goodreadss]

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1483-85

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[shrineofwhim]

There is as much in that little space within the heart as there is in the whole world outside. Heaven, earth, fire, wind, sun, moon, lightning, stars; whatever is and whatever is not, everything is there.

Chandogya, Upanishad

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The only thing that is happening is what is. You can't really suffer unless you go into what should or shouldn't be.

Adyashanti

[louisfraga]

Spending days in Costa Brava ⛵️ (en Costa Brava)

[12images]

 The Wall, Lena C. Emery

[shrineofwhim]

steel lines and a world of blues under the veil of early morning; part 1 Jun/18

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steel lines and a world of blues under the veil of early morning; part 2 Jun/18