Zen and the Art of Snowblowing

 

It’s been a cold winter hereabouts, as it has been everywhere else, even the Florida contingent is experiencing a bit of unseasonable frigidity.  So, where the heck is global warming when you need it?  

We had about 6 inches of snow last week – a good excuse to get my trusty Craftsman 5HP Snowblower out of the shed and cranked-up.  I find clearing the driveway a most satisfying activity, displaying my mastery of machinery as well as the psychic reward of seeing the results of my efforts.  

After a long career as a corporate minion, most of the companies where I was employed have gone away, and none of the systems that I helped build are still in use.  I sometimes wish I had taken up carpentry or masonry, so I could go and look at my work and perhaps get a feeling of fulfillment and pride.    

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not feeling that I wasted my career, or into philosophical musings about the meaning of life.  I’m just saying that I get a warm sense of satisfaction when I can see the results of my labors.   

Narcissism

 Narcissism is prevalent in politics, public celebrities, teen agers, and especially in the performance and creative arts.

I believe every famous artist I've met or read about is a narcissist to some extent. How else can one justify excluding the rest of the world from one's proximity when in the act of creation? Creation of art (painting sculpture, writing, composing) is the act of mental masturbation -- is it not?

I define a narcissist as someone who wishes the world revolved around them. Most of the sane ones know that it doesn't, but they secretly believe that to be a flaw in the system. It should be all about them.

Many artists are not totally sane, as we define normalcy. We like to describe them with positive tinged adjectives like, quirky or eccentric, but at the heart of it, they tend to march to the beat of a selfish drum.

We find a lot of these types on a college campus. Businesses and governments do not tolerate quirky behavior, but academia has a high tolerance for abnormal behavior. So the campus is the last bastion for the less-sane among us.

In a writing group, the alpha narcissist will usually start their analysis of the piece you just read about oversalted french fries at McDonalds.   "That reminds me of the last time I was in Paris …" they will intone.  Then, they will hijack the conversation to those fond Paris memories.  

As a hack writer, I am probably a bit of a closet narcissist myself. But I am also highly social, and, recognizing that most people find narcissists irritating, I try to hide the fact that I am primarily interested in discussing my favorite topics. 

 If I were more successful and famous, I most certainly would have a higher sense of self importance, and would let my inner narcissist roam free. But I am in touch with reality so I keep my delusions of grandeur under wraps.