The urge to write

How often it occurred to me that I must write something in plain English? The answer is so many times. But it was not always feasible to do it. It was not by the lack of time, Internet connection, or poverty of new events, but it was due to lack of enthusiasm. Since the moment that I discovered my ability to write meaningful prose in English, it bewildered me, is it worthwhile to keep writing? Will this writing be of any use? I am a simple common man, not a famous thinker or a prominent figure, so what it is the aim of such endeavour? As I continued to blog new posts, I realised that it is a sort of self-healing, a kind of soul-liberation or may be a path-finder. But running dry of good ideas for new essays, is a problem that I encounter often. So to overcome, the lack of enthusiasm and the dearth of ideas, I plunged in intense readings of English books, and followed more closely current events on English-speaking satellite channels. But why writing in English in the first place, when it is not my mother tongue? Well, there are many reasons for that. One of these reasons, is that I love the English language, and that writing in it is fun, moreover is that it is the universal language of science and of the plethora of literature around the world. I can communicate with it with many learned people around the world. Writing in English in the blogger box is neat and easy with clean characters, that gives the impression of printed material. So, the urge of writing might be pressing, I have to organize my ideas, have a simple layout, which can be proliferated while writing. Then, not to put pen to paper, but connect to the Web, and stroke the keyboard, in order to have a good post in the end.

Sin and repentance

Can we find on this Earth, some people totally devoid of sins? Sins that come in all sorts. Sins which can be described according to a sacred religious book or according to the basic human instinct and conscience. I believe that there is no person who is complete. No superman or superwoman exists. We all have flaws. The good thing is that if we can identify our mistakes towards oneself, our family, our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends or towards the society in general. This spotting of mistakes, means that we have got to have insight. We should also have references of what is right and what is wrong. This notion has been crystallized throughout ages, and is very clear. Yet sometimes it is foggy. And new ethical issues do arise continuously. But, the human being is so fragile psychologically and weak emotionally. All of us, have our moments of rage, anger, nervousness. Many of us, reacts to situations perceived as endangering or diminutive to one's status, violently and erratically. We can be weak or unaware of our actions at times. We can be indifferent, irresponsible, cruel sometimes. Some people commit horrible acts of murder, torture, rape or other form of outrageous physical violence. Some people, commit theft, forgery, burglary or attack other individuals property. But others, betray, hate, lie or revenge. Others abuse verbally or through psychological games. Many behaves in a bothering way, that is a nuisance to others.

But is the person who had committed sins against himself or against society, condemned to live in hell during his life time? I think that the short answer is, no. In the beginning he has to forgive himself. He has to understand himself and his psychological framework. He has to understand his family, his neighbors and his colleagues. Then he has to have a global idea of the society he is living in. A good general idea of what is accepted socially is beneficial. Not only he has to know the basic human rights but also appreciate and respect the general code of living in human societies. The written law also must be respected. Doing good deeds will give him a sweet feeling. A person must be ready to assist others when summoned for that. Because it will be mutual when he will be in need for that help.

Repentance is not so easy. It has to be done voluntarily and much effort has to be put in it. Identifying the wrong doing that we have made, is of prime importance. Confessing that it was wrong, then apologizing, will mean that we have crossed more than half the distance. We have to shed and dump the arrogance, the denial and the stubbornness. Yes, the taste is bitter, but it is the remedy. We have to make up for what has gone wrong, or any damage done. May be by replacement or compensation. As long as it is not arson or murder or big theft or armed attack, it can be always able to be solved. Usually, people in most cultures do accept the apology. The remaining part of the solution is to repent deeply, honestly, and ardently one’s sin. We have to put ourselves in the boots of the others. As long as we don’t accept this to occur to us, so it is wrong to allow ourselves the advantage of harming others. Sometimes, this doesn’t work, so we need to carry on our life and let the time do its magic. The wounds are so painful the first few hours, then pain abates spontaneously the following hours, then disappears totally the next days.

The sea's magic

Why does the sea represent to us, all this spiritual importance? Is it its vast space which engulfs our sight? Is it changing state? Is the horizon, at which the sky and the sea meet hold a visual effect that tranquilizes us? Is it the different shades of blue mixed with white? Is it the breeze of the sea when we sit beside it? Is it the hissing sound of the sea? Well may be all this. But sure the human being longs subconsciously to the period when he was an embryo, being amphibian, breathing through the water that surrounded it once. It may give the person the same serenity which he or she once had in the womb of their mother, and they may be in dire need for it in the daily life. The sea anywhere in the world, possesses a magic that we can't explain exactly. It has a language of its own, that connects to the subliminal level in us. But sure this is accentuated when we have our blues and get to the sea front, to sit by the sea, befriend it and talk it even without words. I think after a quarter of an hour looking to the sea and contemplating, meditating, will make a positive difference on the person. The sea is unlike the river, it may be an equivalent to the depth of the person psyche. They may both enter into a silent dialogue. But sure the might of the sea is greater. It is a sort of a big emotional charger to the person. Why do lovers always go to a water front, and more to the sea when they are in a city by the sea side? Why the sea has been considered in the Greek mythology as a God, Poseidon? Why the sea is still beholding such glory, dignity and awe? Do the fluids of our bodies reverberate with the saline water of the sea? Do the sun and the wind complement the effect on us?

The Electronic Shrink!

In this day and age, for sure, electronics has intermingled with every aspect of our civic life. Not only in the cities, the country side but also in the desert as well among nomads. Humans have a very important trait, that characterizes them, it is their passion for talking and conversing with other humans. How often a person who had troubles, has been relieved by founding a compassionate fellow human being to lend him an ear, to feel a big comfort or may be a solution thereafter.

This was traditionally for hundred of years done face to face or through handwritten letters. Then came the telephone to add the dimension of tele-presence, so humanity took one step forward. Wireless communication despite not being used for the common human civilian interaction, meant by their invention and use, a further advance in the communication through human voice real-time.

But as the civilization got more and more materialized, complicated, man has fallen into more and more psychological problems. And as it was (In the beginning, the word was first), and that everything start by speaking and discussing, describing and relating, so came the role of devoted medics for treating troubled souls but through other mechanisms than do religious men.

In the United States of America, they call the psychologist: the shrink. He or she are qualified people well formed medically, and specially trained to hear and analyze people’s psychological troubles. But as not all the population on Earth is able to go to shrinks and also that there is not enough shrinks to do the job. And that even shrinks themselves become preys for psychic upsets, so the matter must be thought about in another context.

To the benefit of mankind, now the electronic revolution as the American futurologist Alvin Toffler, has called it the third wave; provided us with the cellular, the Internet and videoconferencing. So we can talk, write texts or send pictures, videos, or music by the mobile wireless capabilities. Through the Internet, we can email, chat or construct websites, so as to reach other people.

Can these new tools help troubled people? In my opinion, the answer is yes. The tele-presence so as to appease fears of material aggression is very beneficial for shy, fearful people. It can be done 24/7 so as we have no limits of appointments and duration of the session. It is very cheap so as we will not consume a fortune, to get analysis or insights, or new visions for new angles. The anonymity, of users can also be beneficial so as to get inner worries in the most plain language without the usual constraints of social conveniences. The beauty of the matter is that this shrink s a fellow common man or woman, not a specialized one, so as the stigma of being considered a psycho and having a file labeled with a tongue-twisting disease name, is not present. It may not be a disease after all, but only fears, worries which are experienced universally or by other humans who had the experience and found possible ways to get them settled. So people can learn from each other. This doesn’t at all mean to belittle the role of psychologists and psychiatrists but only to put it tin the proper context and use.

This so called electronic shrink can help you even if you are a university professor, residing on a remote spot on Earth or having hundred years of age. The only needed thing is to select the people with optimistic humane logic views. Those you can rely upon their sanity of mind and soul. We have then to be broad-minded, they can be different in many aspects, but sure they are all humans and we need them.

Solitude, friend or foe?

Some people due to certain and different reasons, opt for living isolated in solitude. Causes differ from one person to another and from one situation to another. But in the end, solitude is the same. There may be a psychological trouble beneath the solitude if it is the choice of the individual. It may be the result of a personality disorder or a major depressive disorder. Or simply as a reaction to inconvenient social life with multiple spiritual traumas. It may be based on deep religious beliefs like the old Egyptian Christian monks who invented the idea of going to live in the desert alone in a very confined place in order to kill the flesh desires and get more divine inspirations, to worship the Creator, so as to become purer in their quest for becoming men of God.

Solitude can be temporary, or permanent. Creative men and women in arts and literature, choose solitude whether for a short period of time or for a long time in order to concentrate on a piece of creation: a musical work, a drawing, a novel, a book, or may be a statue. This can become a way of life, of a certain intellectual as a way of expressing his or her rejection to the current world. Susanna Tamaro, the Italian novelist with many best-selling novels, is doing this. The late Gamal Hemdan, the Egyptian intellect, the ex-academic, has secluded himself in his apartment, to write books and intensely read and research in Egyptian geography and history. Khairy Shalaby, the Egyptian novelist is doing this voluntarily retreat from the society, whenever he is writing a new novel, by isolating himself in the cemeteries of Cairo, seeking non-interruption, silence, and serenity. Mohamed 3abla, the Egyptian artist, has even built a house on the Korsaya island in the Nile, to get the isolation necessary for producing his fine art. So many intellectuals around the world do that.

Not only individuals select solitude but also groups of people do it for many reasons as well. Some for weird religious doctrine. Some for waiting and connecting with extra-terrestrials. Some to construct an Ithaca of their own or a paradise on Earth. All the three examples had occurred in fact in the United States of America. The results of them all were very fatal and lead to loss of lives and all sorts of abuses. Sometimes solitude can be a culture like what occurred in Japan, as some people propagated the idea that solitude is beneficial.

But solitude can be a bless, and friend and a tamed foe with less torture, at a time. But how? Solitude has to be of the own free will of the individual in order to achieve a certain goal in a certain period of time. It should not be imposed by any group for any reason whatsoever. Because it will not differ then from the confinement in a prison abiding to a law verdict for some wrong doing. Even if you want to read a book, finish a task, writing a poem, or studying, solitude can be the solution for short spells of isolation in a closed place. The person has to be connected with the surrounding people, be well informed, be interactive. He or she must keep an umbilical cord with the world and not be totally detached except for very short periods of time.

Loneliness

Is the presence of another person with an individual, important for the psychological well being of this individual or not? Can we live alone in an absolute solitude, and feel stable mentally and happy? Were individuals in the animal kingdom, especially mammals and particularly the Homo Sapiens species - also known as - the human being, were created to live apart, dispersed, separated and disconnected? If so why have the Creator provided us with external facial features, secondary sexual characters, why do we have a voice, why we have muscles in the face? And why have we been divided in two sexes? Can we live on a remote island, alone even if we are totally free and with all the basic needs and resources free available and easily reachable?

The answer is that the presence of another person with us, is so mandatory to live and survive. Let alone for mental stability and happiness. Moreover, a group of people, whether family, colleagues, neighbors or friends as long as they cooperate together, provide each other with support, security, material and spiritual well being.

Even Robinson Crusoe was not happy on his island. He sought companionship with animals by raising a small herd of goats, but this was not enough. On releasing Friday from cannibals, though being black man and savage, Crusoe founds in him a true human being. Despite being different in language, civilization, manners, religion, race, color, but he was a human despite all that. So to a blissful relief, Crusoe was in company of a fellow human being. But to overcome obstacles of communication, he started to teach Friday, English.

The wise Egyptian proverb says (A paradise without people, couldn’t be stepped in).

People are not foes or hell like once stated Sartre. For with people we exhibit our humanity, we fulfill ourselves, and complete our defects. We can’t fall in love with a tree or a rock if we are completely sane. It takes another person to find love, whether you are a man or a woman.

Loneliness is destructive to one’s psyche. It can prove also dangerous on the material side of life. Let alone, the loss of emotional life and sexual life. The lonely person can enter into a vicious circle of fears, worries, and depressions. This can be complicated if he or she doesn’t have friends or has cut off the ties with them. And worse if the person confines himself or herself into a place, never getting out except very seldom, the situation can get more gloomy. Getting out to see people in the streets, to breathe air, to feel the warmth of the sun, to feel the vibrations of the real life, to experience the hassle and the noise of the daily activities, is useful to the individual. Friends are a bless, but they have to be real ones so that they will be available to meet, interact, cherish. Communicating via phone, cellular, short messages, e-mails or written letters, can complement real life meetings between people and can be a psychological remedy in many instances.