Francis Meyrick

www.stepsonmyroad.org

I had an old Aunt, who went skipping with me

Funny old girl. Very kind person. My mother’s sister, Jenna. We were in London, walking along a street. I started skipping. Hell, I was maybe ten years old or so. She started skipping. Nothing wrong with that. Except she was in her late sixties’. Didn’t stop her. We skipped around lamp posts. A red Pillar Box. We skipped past shops. We skipped across roads. We skipped past parked cars. We skipped along, avoiding the cracks. We skipped, for the sheer, unadulterated, mischievous hell of it. We skipped past other pedestrians, who mostly laughed, or smiled. We held hands while skipping. We bowed to each other, like some formal dance. Skipping is good.

Then… along the sidewalk, coming towards us, we saw this man. Tall, erect, serious, well dressed, with a frown of disapproval. It was obvious that he was not impressed. I guess he was the serious type. I was a bit intimidated.

Well, my Aunt did something I’ve never forgotten. She just went right on skipping. With not a care in the world. This sixty-something year old woman, conservatively dressed, skipping her heart out.

And she skipped right UP to Mister Serious-with-the-Frown. He stopped, definitely disapproving. We were a nuisance. In his (important) way. Dammit.

But Aunt Jenna just skipped right on up, CURTSIED, and skipped right on past him…

Remember the Gorilla?

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 10:53 am

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So you think YOU are different…?

Seems to little moi that folk are SO amazingly different, yet so amazingly similar, when it comes to emotions, hopes and outlook, expectations and disappointments.

I’ve been a hero to some, and a villain to others. Take your pick. I try real hard. Maybe I fail real hard. It’s not for me to say. But, always, I’ve picked myself up, dusted myself off, and -stubborn as a mule- I’ve gone about my “different ” way.

And if they can’t take a joke… f@#k!! ’em.

A Blip on the Radar (Part 13) – “The Lady in Blue “

A Blip on the Radar (Part 25) – “Floored by a Russian Hooker “

A Blip on the Radar (part 37) – “The Pilot who hated me “

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 10:52 am

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Hey! Gonna STAR in a MOVIE…!!

In the same way as it could be said that we little humans have a TICKET to ride, I tend to think (I know, I’m mental) that we also have a chance to STAR in our own MOVIE. The image of the Mad Conductor comes to mind, facing a blank wall, and assiduously directing the strains of an invisible Symphony Orchestra that only he can hear.
We can STAR in our own MOVIE. Cool! Sure, maybe nobody will come to watch it. Who cares? We have the chance to wave the conductor’s baton with insane intensity, to compose a veritable orgy of Artistic Drama, to make love to the Muse.

Shakespeare said it so well, in Macbeth:

Life is but a walking shadow
a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.
It is a tale
told by an idiot
full of sound and fury
signifying nothing.

Who cares? Let’s play it again, baby!

I wrote a poem once, in which I explored this same theme. See what you think:

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 10:51 am

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Hey! Gotta TICKET TO RIDE…!!

For some reason, I have long thought of Life as being a privilege to live. It seems to me that we all get this one, precious, TICKET-TO-RIDE. The lucky sperm, as it were. The guy who beat a couple of thousand other frantic tadpoles to it. Hay-hay! Look at ME…! Bingo…!

In this manner, I tend to think of “getting my ticket’s worth ” and “drinking the cup dry “. I wrote a scribble one day, called, ironically, “Let’s Ride “.

I also wrote “Manifesto “, with a strange, almost burning intensity. It was just the way I felt about things – passionate, wanting to GO, move, RIDE.

If you go to “Francis Meyrick ” and click on my avatar, you can then select “view all works “. Some twenty two pages of titles open up then, (Yeah, I know, what a lot of scribbles), and on pages 3 to 5 you will find a bunch of scribbles labelled “auto-biographical – spiritual quest “. Most any of these, when I go back and look at them, seem to incorporate that same degree of passion. Thirst. A desire to explore, push my mind, live on the edge.

I am therefore often at a loss to try and understand permanent, long term, utter, total, black, terminal depression. I can understand being miserable, but for me that’s usually a finite period. There comes a point I’ve had enough. The middle digit then gets exercised, like this,

… and on we ride.

Gotta TICKET to RIDE…

Sensual Overload – The Snowstorm

Storm and Fire – Passion & Judgment

Sugarloaf Mountain

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 30, 2014, 5:55 am

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The Overview Effect

If you’re not familiar with that term, “Overview Effect “, it is explained in this video.

If you are stuck down in a cave, I know it’s a long, long way from there to this ‘Overview’.

As a pilot for many years, I have been extraordinarily blessed to make my own observations of All Our Mother, Earth.

Here’s some of my scribbles.

Over the waves, alone

A Blip on the Radar (36) “All Our Mother “

Red Dust (1) If you need a Teacher

Red Dust (2) “in the Shadow of the Turtle, Meditation “

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 10:49 am

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The Pale Blue Dot – Carl Sagan

It’s not that hard to end up in a Lonely, Dark Place. Every year, some one million human souls, world wide, choose to end their lives. That’s one, every forty seconds. By 2020, the World Health Organisation estimate that to increase to one every twenty seconds. It’s hard for me to even begin to grasp the scale of unhappiness. We are talking an intensity of pain, that goes beyond human abilities to comprehend. An Ocean of suffering.

Nonetheless, we who have been touched by the devastating loss of loved ones, we survivors, we grimly roll up our sleeves, and we embrace you. If you don’t already know him, let me introduce you to a man whom many of us love. We love him for his words, but we also love him for a shining quality that permeated his life. His name is Carl Sagan, and his quality was his sincerity. His compassion for his fellow beings ennobled us all somehow. His words, as inscribed above, raise our eyes up from the mud. And we see the stars.

Here is a video, and if you have not already seen it, you are in for a treat. If you have seen it, I ask you to nonetheless watch it again. And reflect, with me, on the haunting enormity of the Mystery of Our Lives.

Enjoyed that? Not even remotely on the same level, but, confession: Yeah, I blog about this kind of stuff as well. The mystery of things. How it all works. Or doesn’t. Trouble is, I’m a bit of a Klutz. Uh-huh. As you will see in this (true) story, set on a Taiwanese Tuna Boat, steaming across the Pacific Ocean.

A Blip on the Radar (Part 10) “Burning the garbage; Moggy, Moggy, what you DO…?? “

(sigh…)

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 10:47 am

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The Dark Cave

A Decision to be made – which way out?

List of possible Tunnels Out of Your Cave – pick any one

Last Update: 3/2/2016 Tunnel Out # 19 “Losing your marbles…? You ain’t seen squat. “

1) The Pale Blue Dot – Carl Sagan Take me there

2) The Overview Effect Take me there

3) Hey! Gotta TICKET TO RIDE…! Take me there

4) Hey! Gonna STAR in a MOVIE…! Take me there

5) So you think YOU are different…? Take me there

6) I had an old aunt, who went skipping with me Take me there

7) Don’t think about making Art, just clatter right on Take me there

8) What YARDSTICK are you using…? HOW are you measuring? Take me there

9) WANTED – AN HONEST FOOL Take me there

10) It’s never to late to find the Perfect Love Take me there

11) The soul resides in the greenhouse of our surrounding senses Take me there

12) REALITY – worst Game ever? Take me there

13) The Importance of Self – or Not? Take me there

14) Wanderers

If you haven’t seen the short movie “Wanderers ” by Eric Wernquist, give yourself a treat: grab a nice cuppa coffee, one chocolate biscuit, and sit back and enjoy this awesome work. Watch out for the “grin ” at the very end. I challenge you to come back and say you didn’t hugely+++ enjoy this. http://vimeo.com/108650530
Here is the link: WANDERERS

15) The Greatest Success? Take me there

16) How will Life measure out the Good and the Bad to you?

17) Being hard on yourself – again? Take me there

18) If at first you don’t succeed… Take me there

19) Losing your marbles? You ain’t seen squat. Take me there

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Last edited by admin on March 2, 2016, 10:19 am

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It’s a LIE! Curiosity did NOT kill the Cat!

I’m not an Atheist. Far from it.
(I believe in “A Great Cosmic Kindness”)
At the same time, I’m not too impressed with a lot of “Organized Religion” either.
Put it this way, I would much rather walk with a committed Atheist, than listen to some condescending, sanctimonious, preachy, Holier-than-thou “saved ” Motherf#@k’r who insists on getting in my face.
I like to say I’m a “Seeker”. Seeker of the Truth. That leaves me free to listen to everybody’s point of view, whilst being non-threatening. I don’t have much of a dogmatic axe to grind. Having said that, I really enjoy a spirited discussion.
Many years ago, I had a Bank Manager who was a devout Catholic. He reported to me one day, with incredulous amazement, the observation of an Atheist friend of his.
The Manager had asked the Atheist this question:

“If you don’t believe at all in God, why do you stay living? I’d KILL myself!? What possible reason could you have to stick around if you truly don’t believe in God…?”

To which the Atheist replied, with a smile:

“Oh, the answer to that question is EASY…”

And the Manager said: “WHAT…!?”

The Atheist replied: “Curiosity…”

I laughed! Excellent reply. I endorse the mental attitude.

Curiosity did NOT Kill the cat. It’s a noble motive. I recommend it.

On Curiosity

I believe we should always push our tiny minds, as hard as we can. Regardless.

The Burning Soldier (5) – “Silent Warrior “

Diary (1) “Over the waves, alone “

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 3:07 pm

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One door closes, and, invariably, another one opens

For some reason, I’m a control freak. I have tried, and tried, to direct my Destiny, control my Fate, and plan the hell out of my Plans.

How did that work out for you, Mister Moggy…?

Um. Well. Kind of… different from what I thought. Uh-huh.
I’m a slow learner. Real slow. It has taken me for-frickin’-EVER to realize, yep, it’s true…

One door closes, and invariably… another one opens.

By now, you’d think I would have absorbed Life Lessons One-oh-One, but I still…
Occasionally panic. Reflex control freak input.

I have to take that deep breath, deal with what’s come along, and accept that some things I can fix, and others I can’t.
But I can look back, and see “co-incidence” coming into my Life, and changing my Path. For the better.
Often enough, now, squinting myopically back, I think there was something I needed to learn. That’s how things happened the way they did. Does that mean I don’t get mad when I think how some things turned out? Well, I do get mad. Occasionally. But it doesn’t last very long. To put it all in philosophical terms, carefully constructed, and thoughtfully expressed:

Shit happens. Move on.

Here’s a deeply meaningful poster, which sums up a lot of… shit.

And, yes, I blog about this too.

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 28, 2014, 10:45 am

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The Illusion of Permanence

Nothing is Permanent. The only constant is Change.
Might as well get used to that simple fact of our Life cycle. Everything is born. Hopefully, it matures. It decays. It dies. Then, depending on who you listen to, and what you believe, way-hay, it starts all over again.

People being people, they frantically seek Permanence, where none is possible. They work themselves to spiritual death, fingers to the bone, in order to pile up material wealth, say, in their retirement funds. Hey, I wish I had more in mine. There’s nothing wrong with providing for the long term. But how many retirees get to enjoy (spend) anywhere close to the Big Pile they cobbled together in a lifetime of working their fingers to the bone? How many times have I seen them retire, and keel over dead, eighteen months later?

The only constant is Change. That’s a fascinating (and liberating, actually) concept, for those who face that Truth head on.
To work is good. I like to work. But to Dream is also good. To Wonder. And Wander. Amongst the clouds.

Han-shan Te-ch’ing (1546-1623) put it this way:

And again,

The impact of this on us tiny hearts, is that what we think of as “the end of the world” and “Finito la Musica” and “I’ll never get over this…” is illusory.
In the Great Scheme of Things, this too will pass.
That thought may at first seem depressing.
But in truth, it is the opposite.

I blog about this, and for what it’s worth, here you go:

Starry, starry night

The Road of Light

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Last edited by Francis Meyrick on November 30, 2014, 11:33 am