46. woman is a yam – o’hair
One basic human element that Aristotle forgot to mention, and what is
missing in most of western philosophy, is the need for a pause.
One needs to take a pause in order to live in the present. Many are
just too busy to stop for a second. Everyone needs a pause because
sometimes stories go on too long, especially when there is a lot of
action or lots of chapters.
The reader might stumble on this chapter while in bed, standing in
the kitchen, sitting on the toilet or travelling somewhere on a bus,
train or plane. The reader looks up from the page and during this
pause winds up staring out the window, at the sink, at the wallpaper
or at the back of someone’s head. Without thinking the reader is
taking a pause.
There is only one kind of pause. Pauses are not the replacement of
one physical action with another, as in assembly-line work and the
fifteen-minute break. A real pause is when a person thinks. Thinking
is cheap to do and easy. Everyone thinks. Some thoughts cause stress
or chagrin. It is important to remember that all thoughts, whether
they are good or bad, are old and are not directly related to the
current situation. A way to utilize a pause constructively and
consequently, to live in the present, is to keep a diary for the past
and a calendar for the future.
While sitting, standing or traveling, the reader who is taking a
pause might start thinking about a person in this book and wind up
comparing women to yams. In between, the reader has jumped worlds,
time zones, past and future and has made strange abstractions. The
reader might have laughed out loud at some of the crazy ideas or
blushed at an embarrassing thought. In the meantime, time has passed,
bowels have moved or some distance has been traveled.
Suddenly the reader becomes aware of the environment and is probably
comfortable with the surroundings. It would have been impossible to
read while sitting, standing or traveling if the surroundings had
proven threatening. At this point, the reader might ask, who am I?
or, what is this around me? or, where am I going and when will it
end? and finally, how did I get here?
This is not a chain letter. You do not need to make copies or give
them to anyone.
Uncle Bob, who did not pause to think, was always busy making jokes
and putting food into his mouth. He got an ulcer and now exists with
only half of his stomach.
Instead of waiting in line thinking, Melany Fuller always had to butt
in. Today she is married to a part-time sidewalk poet and unemployed
house painter and raising illiterate children.
Joyce Weatherbean of Modesto preferred not to think about her
existence lest it cause depression. Instead she worked for a
collection agency and made others depressed by reminding them of
overdue student loans. She has hence grown to enormous proportions
adding pound after pound of protective armor.
Macie McGee is confined to the Thrift Center because her only
employment skills are menial. As a youth she was only interested in
the latest trends and never thought about anything else. And even
though she today has the biggest selection of clothing to choose from
in the Valley, if she had taken a pause while going to school and
done a little thinking she would not be stuck sorting garments.
Duke Hill never paused to think. A self-employed restaurant owner, he
worked himself to the bone. He was always busy doing something. He
only talked about the restaurant business. If he had given some
thought to his condition, he might have realized that there is more
to life than just cash flow and bean dip. He will soon die of a heart
attack.
Be reassured that no such thing will happen to the readers if they
close this book and take a pause.
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