Lots of interesting bits to digest here. I will mention that the painting at the beginning of the essay is intense. I sat and looked at it for a good ten minutes. Also, I have met some knuckle draggers in my day, and I am not sure you fall into that category. Your erudition is holding you back from achieving full knuckle dragger status. Always appreciate reading your thoughts Sam.
John Martin is my favorite painter, hands down. If you dug this, check out his other works. Some are dark and yet they put me into an epic, deep feeling place. I appreciate it Matthew.
It is a reference to apes who walk dragging their knuckles on the ground. In English it is used as an idiomatic expression referring to individuals who are not very smart. It can be used as an insult but often in military circles it is worn as a badge of honor meaning that you are one of the gang, you work for a living, etc..
You have certainly found your mentor as a soldier poet in Ernst Jünger. From Storm of Steel onward he embraced a life which you have shared, mutatis mutandis. Like you he embarked on a lifelong quest to create an aesthetic order around his purest responses to his extreme experiences. Jünger was a cool and exceptionally warrior, and a first class thinker and writer.
He became a Catholic at the end of his life.
Aristotle tells us that the original impulse which gives birth to philosophical thinking is a sense of wonder, “thaumazein”, which seens similar to how you use “awe”.
Your description of the combination of magnitude and terror is also discussed by Edmund Burke in his short, insightful and beautifully written “Inquiry into the Meaning of the Sublime and the Beautiful”.
Both you and Jünger are connoisseurs of the sublime.
For you the goat shit was “stop and smell the roses” moment. How often we’ve heard that? Many times the world around us bombard us with events that makes us forget to do that, especially when our bodies need it. I love connecting events and coincidentally or by design, a few days ago, I read in Epoch Times how music affects our health, specifically certain classical music. “New research shows that predictable music patterns synchronize with blood pressure, potentially offering a drug-free approach to cardiovascular health. A study conducted in King’s College London found the most effective piece to be Franz Schubert’s “Serenade,” noted for its highly predictable phrase structure”. So I became another subject and I listened and felt calm. I’ve been taking my blood pressure and it really dropped. Our bodies must have many “smell the roses” or hear the universe to survive.
I love this Barry. I have Bach blasting in the background every second I get. I’ll need to add more Schubert to my life. To goat shit and roses and classical music!
Chris, thank you for one of the most insightful and perspective comments I’ve gotten to date. Your description of Jünger’s mission, Aristotles θουμαζειν, and Edmund Burke’s sublime are dialed in. The Haidt study had a segment of Burke which led me to his piece, and I realized I felt his exact definition of sublime mid way through Hell Week. I have the bones of the essay teed up. Thank you for your thoughts.
Wow an incredible piece!! Thank you!
You’re welcome Don, thank you for jumping in.
Lots of interesting bits to digest here. I will mention that the painting at the beginning of the essay is intense. I sat and looked at it for a good ten minutes. Also, I have met some knuckle draggers in my day, and I am not sure you fall into that category. Your erudition is holding you back from achieving full knuckle dragger status. Always appreciate reading your thoughts Sam.
John Martin is my favorite painter, hands down. If you dug this, check out his other works. Some are dark and yet they put me into an epic, deep feeling place. I appreciate it Matthew.
I do not know what a knuckle dagger is?
From Wikipedia: Noun. knuckle dragger (plural knuckle draggers) (idiomatic, often derogatory) A large, strong, and rather dimwitted person.
Pretty sure it was not intended to insult. But thank you :)
It is a reference to apes who walk dragging their knuckles on the ground. In English it is used as an idiomatic expression referring to individuals who are not very smart. It can be used as an insult but often in military circles it is worn as a badge of honor meaning that you are one of the gang, you work for a living, etc..
“You work for a living.” Nailed it.
So interesting how a n expression can turn from insult to badge of honor in the right context. Thank you Matthew.
I think this spark of life and consciousness exists within and without the skull.
Thank you for the insight.
Barry mentioned classical music in another comment. I think that “spark” can be felt there, nature, and elsewhere
I’m here for it.
So good, Sam.
Rock on Lou, I appreciate it.
You have certainly found your mentor as a soldier poet in Ernst Jünger. From Storm of Steel onward he embraced a life which you have shared, mutatis mutandis. Like you he embarked on a lifelong quest to create an aesthetic order around his purest responses to his extreme experiences. Jünger was a cool and exceptionally warrior, and a first class thinker and writer.
He became a Catholic at the end of his life.
Aristotle tells us that the original impulse which gives birth to philosophical thinking is a sense of wonder, “thaumazein”, which seens similar to how you use “awe”.
Your description of the combination of magnitude and terror is also discussed by Edmund Burke in his short, insightful and beautifully written “Inquiry into the Meaning of the Sublime and the Beautiful”.
Both you and Jünger are connoisseurs of the sublime.
For you the goat shit was “stop and smell the roses” moment. How often we’ve heard that? Many times the world around us bombard us with events that makes us forget to do that, especially when our bodies need it. I love connecting events and coincidentally or by design, a few days ago, I read in Epoch Times how music affects our health, specifically certain classical music. “New research shows that predictable music patterns synchronize with blood pressure, potentially offering a drug-free approach to cardiovascular health. A study conducted in King’s College London found the most effective piece to be Franz Schubert’s “Serenade,” noted for its highly predictable phrase structure”. So I became another subject and I listened and felt calm. I’ve been taking my blood pressure and it really dropped. Our bodies must have many “smell the roses” or hear the universe to survive.
I love this Barry. I have Bach blasting in the background every second I get. I’ll need to add more Schubert to my life. To goat shit and roses and classical music!
Chris, thank you for one of the most insightful and perspective comments I’ve gotten to date. Your description of Jünger’s mission, Aristotles θουμαζειν, and Edmund Burke’s sublime are dialed in. The Haidt study had a segment of Burke which led me to his piece, and I realized I felt his exact definition of sublime mid way through Hell Week. I have the bones of the essay teed up. Thank you for your thoughts.
Nicely done. That book is a favorite of mine, too. You have a great voice.
This chapter in your