It Is, Is It?

I'm prone to paradoxical thinking. Since writing my first poetry, decades ago, through the ups and downs of life, right up to the here and now, I see paradoxes everywhere..

There are several ways one can define paradox. I most relate to this definition, from yourdictionary.com - a paradox is a statement that may seem absurd or contradictory but yet can be true, or at least makes sense. Paradoxes are often contrary to what is commonly believed and so play an important part in furthering our understanding in literature and everyday life, or they can simply be an entertaining brain teaser.

On the rare occasions when I review my old poetry, the raw bare bones of my life's experience, I find paradox litters the verses, and it really pleases me. I consider it a gift to be able to think this way, and as long as I've avoided delusion and confusion, paradoxical thinking has enhanced my ability to express myself in ways I could never have imagined. Much more importantly, paradoxical thinking is an intrinsic part of my thought process. It is, and probably always has been, integral to how I view my inner life and my outer world. I am definitely better off for it.

Enough blowing of one's own trumpet..

We may well all like our certainties in life, and find much comfort in choosing a side, adopting a stance or deciding upon one frame of mind over another - accepting as truth a particular way of looking at something, whilst rejecting out of hand what is contrary to that truth - but, although helpful in simplifying and clarifying things in our heads, is this actually not just closing ourselves off to the full range of possibility? Is 'certainty' not just merely another way of saying 'closed-minded'? To me, becoming 'set in my ways' is akin only to 'dying a slow death'. If I am not growing, I am dying.

By far, some of the most valuable lessons that life has taught me are; that it is only by maintaining an open mind, being as flexible as possible in the way I view the world, being mindful of the innate flaws and impediments built into the human condition, learning to accept how wrong I can be at any given time (and forgiving myself for that) and always being willing to extend myself to others and to the ever-changing nature of the world, that I can really hope to grow to become better, and maintain that growth throughout my whole life.

So, any alternative ways of framing my experience, of thinking very differently about things, has to be positive. Thinking paradoxically is one such way, and when it 'flows' out of me in the form of poetry I find it to be an amazing experience. On those aforementioned rare occasions of reading back my poems to myself, I find little gems lurking among the debris. Locks click open in my mind, the keys to which are the paradoxes I've identified in verse. The best part is that, with the passage of time and gaining of new experience, these gems shine even brighter, their meaning becomes new meaning, which in turn even inspires new thought processes, new verses, fresh creativity! A perfect antidote to the natural closing of the mind that age and bitter experience can often bring.

Here is just a handful of the myriad paradoxes which have become recurring themes for me - observations, if you will, just one man's slant on it:

• Life is all endings and beginnings - we have to experience the end of something in order to start anew.
• I am everything, and nothing - all I know and am is the sum total of my experience and how I feel about it, in the grand scheme of things I really know nothing.
• To be humble is powerful - the more humility, respect, conscientiousness, selflessness and kindness we put out into the world, the more we get right back.
• Love and hate are two sides of the same coin - To hate is merely love in reverse, and in hating we negate the possibility of love, it's a simple choice.
• Everything stays the same, but different - we can stick our heads in the sand and choose not to change, but the world, the people and everything else around us always will.

The world needs fresh thinking. Our lives could definitely benefit from different perspectives. Paradoxical thinking offers a seed which develops rapidly into roots, from which whole forests can eventually grow and thrive. All it takes is for one to plant the seed.

Having green fingers always did run in our family..

Copyright ©2018 Richard C. Greenlow. All rights reserved.