a band of interest wide;
the desire to find, and employ, the useful and good
LukeyoutheU
LukeyoutheU2
the wisely adventurous receive
contents books podcast visuals about
there are many paths through this world,
possibly as many as there are people on earth.
are you actively choosing yours?
contents books podcast visuals about
there are many paths through this world,
possibly as many as there are people on earth.
are you actively choosing yours?
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the surprising thing is: even a path that seems laid out will be a path you have created LukeyoutheU plus underlined words are links light blue=named page, same tab (introduction) dark blue=named page, new tab (books) black and underlined=connected page, same tab there are also links hidden. clicking them will take you other places. contents introduction books podcast visuals about a sunnier path life is an invitation tcstcs aclacl a shadier path at the party you were born into eodeod lpolpo a deeper path scroll down scmscm hbqhbq a big picture
The universe is not indifferent to us; nor does it accommodate our every want. We are deciders, as individuals, as peoples, and as a species, in some parts of life; and receivers in others. The proportions of our influence are not all fixed. We are not alien to life but inexorably part of it. We have no choice, zero, except to be active players in it. Deciding, consciously or unconsciously, to try not to participate in life is to actively withhold much of the potential good of our individual participation. Participate we all do, to lesser and greater extents. Put another way, life is like being at an ocean's beach on a hot, sunny day. You have many options but I will talk about two likely ones. You can swim in the water to body surf the waves, treading water while you wait for the wave you want to take. The rideable ones appear on their time, not always at a time convenient for you. Or you can stay on the beach, sunbathing, chatting, eating, playing volleyball, building sandcastles. On the so-thought solid land. The sand hard but not firm. There is, in my thinking, a time for both swimming/ riding, and for laying about/ doing. Whichever you choose, whether these options or others, make no mistake about it, you are going to work. You do the work of swimming in the water; or the work of baking/ playing in the sun; or some other work. LukeyoutheU is about finding and/ or making meaning in life. I correct myself: meanings in life, plural. I think we all have many more than one. None of us has the same exact meanings in life. Nor can we. We all find, and put, meanings into and onto so very many ideas, things, people, habits, understandings. I do not think all meanings found or decided on are of the same value or use; it is plain to my sight that they are not. What I try, through LyU, in life, is to continue to improve my meanings. I want to help bring about what I consider a better life for me, for others, for the planet. Not always in that order of hierarchy. I hope, in LyU, to assist you, as you allow, in discovering, finding, making your own meanings towards the betterment that you desire. Life, the universe, is highly complex; and there are simple parts to it. We can know some of its complex parts and probably not all of its simple ones. I think a model, an idea to follow, is to go for the useful and good. Not just the useful; not only the good. The useful and good. story time Once upon a time, in collegeland a long time ago, a close friend of mine suggested we take a modernist art class together. I said yes, happily, because of my interest in art; but, mostly, because of our friendship. In the class, we were shown projected images of some of the world's most famous modern art. I was drawn to many of the pieces visually, some of them intellectually, and a few viscerally. As for other pieces, well, I scratched my head. I remember, in particular, that we were presented well-supported, impassioned theories on the meanings of the work of Picasso, especially Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, our instructor being a renowned scholar of the artist and the piece. The import of what we were told about the masterpiece, I have to admit, I do not consciously recall. I do remember writing a term paper on DuBuffet, specifically on the collection of his works know as L'Hourloupe (photos). I considered the black lines between the colors and patterns as connectors; not, as it seemed others did, as marks of separation/ alienation. (artists, piece, series links: Wikidpedia.org; renowned scholar: nytimes.com; photos: Google.com) As much as I enjoyed the class and learned many things over the course of the semester about art (and I did, thank you, close friend), I began to understand something from the class that has proven to me of especially great and practical use. Something more significant than the artists; something bigger, to me, than knowing of the pieces themselves. It is one of the great gifts available, I think, from modern art as a whole. It is this: an understanding, a challenging, of perspective and participation. Art is often thought to have two players: an active creator and a passive viewer. A giver, and a taker. Art (and life)(what is art but an exploration, a perspective, of life?) can look like a one-way street; be talked about as a one-way street; feel like a one-way street; even be a one-way street. A street or avenue on which there are first producers and then consumers. Probably many see art (can only see art?) that way: we who are viewers as being separate from, and only able to look at, fixed work (even if fixed in, say, film). Consumers buying visual goods with the attention of our eyes. Art (life) can certainly be seen that way if you want to see it that way. In the larger, dare I say real-er, whole-er, picture, art, life, however, involve, and reflect, both the artist(s) who produced it and the viewer/ reader/ live-er who considers it. That is because we viewers/ readers/ live-ers, consciously and unconsciously, decide what the art (and what life) means to us. Even if we decide that that meaning is "nothing." I encourage you to take this understanding, and make it broader. Apply it to your own as-you-have-experienced-it life. I think you will likely get to this: that each and every one of us, and all of us, apply meaning in and to our lives, to life, all the time. We apply it always. Sometimes multiple types of it. To all the events, things, and people in our lives. We usually do so, I think, on an unconscious level. (And thank goodness for that, as, otherwise, we could easily be consciously overwhelmed.) Nevertheless, we do. Whether we are ever consciously aware of applying meanings, or not. The meanings we give, the truths we hold on to, are the footings and foundations of our lives. Are the renovations we make on, the additions we add to, the house we were born into/ are. We reveal the meanings we have given/ are giving by the stories we tell, the way we tell them, and the order in which we do. By the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, speech we use. By how we live. By the actions we take. We continuously describe/ ascribe meaning to the people (foolhardy, smart, attractive), things (shiny, clunky, ancient, new), and events (thrilling, devastating, boring, significant) in life. We cannot help but do so. I carry in me stories that help me to live, to make sense of life. I would guess you do, too. The particular story I hold among the uppermost: Life, including my little, itty-bitty life, a life being lived out in a suburb not too far from the western edge of the North American continent, has meaning. Multiple meanings. I would like to suggest to you that your life, wherever lived, however lived, does, too. the layout LukeyoutheU LukeyoutheU's website is a spacious, complex structure. You can think of it as a great big house. Major rooms are laid out in contents; many of the smaller rooms are listed on the content's (inventively named) second page, contents2. You can experience its main rooms, smaller rooms, additions, gardens, and secret passageways only by visiting them. If something on a page interests you, I suggest you read/ select it. You are standing at the front door. The door is wide open. I welcome you in. LukeyoutheU's books books Two types with, currently, one book each better step by step (experiential) 7 ways to think and feel better the Jesian Chronicles (biblical) Deciding What You Want All books are short. LukeyoutheU's podcast podcast Six series some conversations with marc scm scm episodes the consciousness shift tcs tcs episodes a considered life acl acl episodes luke's perspective, and ours lpo lpo episodes earliest of days eod eod episodes heroes of the bible and quran hbq hbq episodes Some of the podcast episodes are long. LukeyoutheU's visuals visuals Photographs, most untouched, that are intended to establish mood and intrigue the viewer. I took all the photos except those of other people and most of the photos of me. LukeyoutheU's about about Explanations of LukeyoutheU, its name, and me, jake knight. more |