Who's crazy now?
Today marks another milestone in my life. I am fifty four years old.
Jean Rostand said: “A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.”
I think that most agnostics are very happy people. They go through life looking for its meaning. They derive their pleasure from the searching and seldom get depressed with the lack of answers.
This reminds me of a French philosophy mock Baccalauréat exam in the early 70’s. The paper offered a choice of three questions. Monsieur Baudouin, our lecturer gave the signal for the start of the test and as soon as I turned the page over I knew which question to pick.
"Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. Discuter."
Jean Rostand said: “A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.”
I think that most agnostics are very happy people. They go through life looking for its meaning. They derive their pleasure from the searching and seldom get depressed with the lack of answers.
This reminds me of a French philosophy mock Baccalauréat exam in the early 70’s. The paper offered a choice of three questions. Monsieur Baudouin, our lecturer gave the signal for the start of the test and as soon as I turned the page over I knew which question to pick.
"Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. Discuter."
(The biologist passes, the frog remains. Discuss.)
Needless to say I got a very good mark (16/20) for my efforts to unravel the philosophical mysteries of Creation, Science, etc…
But what struck me most was that I was the only one in the class to choose that question. Was that an early hint of my weird singularity or simply the sign of mad genius?
For the rest of the year, Monsieur Baudouin cast a knowing look towards me whenever he broached a complicated philosophical enigma. Yes I became teacher’s pet thanks to a little frog.
I have always considered myself a restless rebel. Those of you who have got to know me a little may have realised that already. I cannot stand being happy with my lot. It is not a question of ingratitude. It is simply the fact that there is so much to discover out there and so little time.
I am forever on the move mainly inside my head. I have a phobic fear of mental inactivity. And as the years begin to weigh down on my shoulders, the feeling that there is another life awaiting me is becoming an obsession.
Needless to say I got a very good mark (16/20) for my efforts to unravel the philosophical mysteries of Creation, Science, etc…
But what struck me most was that I was the only one in the class to choose that question. Was that an early hint of my weird singularity or simply the sign of mad genius?
For the rest of the year, Monsieur Baudouin cast a knowing look towards me whenever he broached a complicated philosophical enigma. Yes I became teacher’s pet thanks to a little frog.
I have always considered myself a restless rebel. Those of you who have got to know me a little may have realised that already. I cannot stand being happy with my lot. It is not a question of ingratitude. It is simply the fact that there is so much to discover out there and so little time.
I am forever on the move mainly inside my head. I have a phobic fear of mental inactivity. And as the years begin to weigh down on my shoulders, the feeling that there is another life awaiting me is becoming an obsession.
Do you think I am cracking up?
I screamed and guess what?
28 Comments:
Hello Cream and Happy Birthday! If you'd been born a day later and a year earlier, you'd be 13 still.
Of course you're not cracking up, it seems you're a kindred spirit, with your mental restlessness while anxiously watching the clock.
Lovely blog, this. :-)
Welcome, Edvard! Obrigado!
I think my parents weren't that eager to have me!
Yes, the clock! That bloody clock!
Happy Birthday :)
Welcome and thank you!
happy birthay!!!
(funny, i strive for mental INactivity) - just kinda want to be comfortable (somewhere on a beach) and have no one bother me... thats all. hmm see different things make different ppl happy! and that's good
A very happy birthday, Cream. How will you spend your day? Even if you don't do anything special, treat yourself special xx
A family friend told me, [quoting Ghandi, he said], 'learn as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow.'
I'm not surprised you chose the frog question :-)
Happy Birthday Cream! AS you can guess if you were in my company we would be partying like there was no tomorrow.
Sometimes I have a hard time trying to make my brain stop searching so much or wanting so many answers. I try to take it a day at a time and squeeze all I can out of that day. GG's quote is splendid.
Happy Birthday Cream.
have you read the book Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss - its one of those books that I had to read keeping my skeptic part quiet and I'm glad I did as its helped me gain a good model of myself from it.. even if not quite in the same terms Ms Myss suggests.
It would be great to see where your rebel fell in her wheel!
Cracking up? Nah, cracking open maybe! *giggle*
Happy, happy, happy birthday to you!
And many more!
Everything is balance.
Ale, I love that kind of inactivity too. Especially on a beautiful tropical beach...
Gigi, nothing special really,I am working today.
Great quote! Would love to do that!
Mary, one of your parties would have been great! Lovely attitude. Squeeze as much as possible out of the day...
Caro, I'll have to look that book up. I'm not so sure I could keep my skeptic side quiet for very long though.
L, yes slowly cracking open maybe! Balance? Never heard the word before...:o)
Happy birthday Cream.
I like the sound of weird singularity.
Thanks, Lettie.
Yes, weirdly singular or singularly weird!
C'est moi!
Oh no! I'm late! Happy Birthday, cream...celebrated my own a few days ago,now I know why we think so much alike..must be a Feb thing.
Hope you had a fabulous day!
loved this post, btw
Thanks, Wanderer!
Yes, it must be a Fab Feb thing!
All these little fishes floating along against the tide...
Happy Birthday! Having something to strive for keeps you alive, I reckon...
I am puzzled, nay, troubled, by the frog question. Are frogs immortal then?
You're not cracking up (That's because you're a good egg...), you're just becoming more you. Who was it that said 'an unexamined life isn't worthy living?'
Happy birthday, mon oeuf brillant.
WORTH living, not worthy living, though I'm sure you're more than worthy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
no, not cracking up, I think. Sometimes I find the pressure to explore/live/try new things is just relentless. It keeps getting more intense, and I keep getting more restless. The battle is always between deep and broad: do I delve in, or do I leap to something new?
(and when the quiz was done, did you flour the frog legs and fry them in butter?)
Happy birthday Cream, are we all cracking up? well maybe just you and me...have a super day...
Annie, the frog represent nature and the universe and the quest for scientists to explain their wonders. They spend a lifetime trying to find answers yet the universe still remains a mystery.
Andrea, un oeuf brillant! That is definitely a good one. I have been a vociferous spectator of this life of mine ever since I can remember.
Hayden, some of my staff didn't understand the cartoon but that exactly what was meant...French accent, garlic butter! Yes the frog gets it in the end!
Tatbabe, no I don't believe we are cracking up really... I just think that Real Life is knocking on the door.
Eow! Sorry I missed your birthday yesterday. Did you know you share a birthday with Spanish Goth? Must be a bloggin' thing. Mazeltov anyway.
In my French finals I demolished "je pense donc je suis" by proving it was a linguistic trick. My lecturer said to me after he'd seen my paper: "And to think, all this time I'd thought you weren't listening!"
Ha! Look stupid and surprise 'em all. Many happy returns and keep it up with the cartoons, (a) they're good, and (b) they make your blog unique.
Don't worry about missing my birthday, there was no party! Just a bottle of Shiraz and a slab of camembert.
Thanks about the cartoons. I am getting addicted to my drawing tablet.
Happy birthday dearest Cream, enjoy enjoy enjoy, and many more,
Thank you, Sarah.
No dear Cream you are not cracking up! Happy Birthday!!! I think it would be weird to succumb to life to think this is it? you have an artists soul, constantly seeking love, passion, beauty, questions etc! That's a good thing!
Thank you, dear Val! Definitely would be weird to give up searching.
Belated Happy Day, Cream.
There's nothing wrong with wanting more. I'm almost half your age and yet I relate to so much of what you write. It comforts me to know that I'm not going through some sort of phase, that I'll always be questioning and searching. :)
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