song for theme #18B: Dispassionate

“Sail With Serenity” by Stephen P. Cook

to be sung to the tune of “After the Gold Rush” by Neil Young

I imagine leading a great armada

With much passion and heroic

Overcoming long odds in triumph

Famously judged by society’s stick

But such stressful life in raging sea

Is not the one I’d pick

I’d rather chart my course alone

With little fanfare and much stoic¹

I’d rather chart my course alone

With little fanfare and much stoic

Trying to calm my ship of state

As waves crash all around

Trying to steer with an even keel,

Often lost, sometimes found

Pieces of mind or peace of mind

When I’m lifted up then slammed down?²

Trying to hold it together

Here where there’s no solid ground³

Trying to hold it together

Here where there’s no solid ground

If I’m trusting enough to close my eyes

There’s no way I can see

So I might overlook those rocks offshore

They can cause calamity

Even rapture in a sea of joy

Disturbs tranquility

I gotta cast off desire, go with the flow⁴

And sail with serenity

I gotta cast off desire, go with the flow

And sail with serenity

SONG—NOTES / COMMENTS     (this song is part of the author’s personal story)

1— Stoic: one meaning of this term refers to someone who practices stoicism. In modern, popular conception this latter term

       means indifference to pleasure or pain, but its classical meaning connects with a whole philosophy.  Ancient Greek and

       Roman stoics taught the importance of self-control, reason, and courage in maintaining clear judgment—especially during

       tumultuous times when one might otherwise succumb to destructive emotions.  In general, stoics seek to maintain inner calm,

       have their lives flow smoothly and evenly.  Like Buddhists, they believe that life is potentially full of suffering brought on by

       passions and desires.  They believe that removing these—especially distress, fear, lust, delight—is the key to having freedom.

2—Slammed suggests a hard knock: that’s life in The School of Hard Knocks!

3— No solid ground suggests a groping around to find a no firm footing or solid basis for one’s actions given an environment with

      lots of hazards, uncertainty, doubt, etc.

4 —Some, like Joe Jaworski and Arthur Koestler, would argue when we “go with the flow” we begin to experience synchronicity

Comment: this theme has value as emotional armor. The song provides some idea as to why/how you might become a stoic (see note 1), calm down and disarm the emotional stress that can wreak such havoc in your life. If you have the expectation that life naturally and continually brings both mental and (for perhaps a majority of the world’s population) physical suffering (note 1), this theme can help emotionally arm you against it. Unless you’re genetically predisposed toward being dispassionate (like some autistic people?), cultivating this orientation in yourself may be challenging. Actively trying to desensitize yourself to certain expected and feared events may help in this regard. (The related coping mechanism is termed sensitization.) Note some jobs require a dispassionate orientation: policing a high crime area, working in a laboratory, etc.