TO THE PONCE DE LEON WITHIN

As a young man when I first started to sense that mortal life was limited and physical prowess was fleeting, I pondered upon the blessings which we all might have been able to enjoy had Ponce de Leon been successful in his quest for the fountain of youth.

However, as the years have turned into decades, I have come to realize that those same emotions which drove him in his search and stimulated my youthful pondering are often detrimental to the achieving of ultimate happiness. Time and time again experience has reinforced on my consciousness that idols worshiped by unobtainable, unnecessary or undesirable quests usually turn out to be standing on feet made of clay.

If some time in the far, far away an archeologist were digging in the remains of the
cities buried beneath the present day megalopolis of Los Angeles, California, and happened to discover the film and tape vaults of that then, ancient movie and television industry they would be overwhelmed with an impression which would be very distinct from the realities of the 21st Century.

Even today advertising and program content lead most of the world to have a distorted view of what reality is in Los Angeles, Las Vegas or New York. They would lead many to believe that our world is dominated by beautiful people who are constantly involved in committing or resolving criminal activity, who drive oversized limos and live in mansions which are never inhabited by faithful mothers and fathers. As we open our eyes to the world around us we quickly realize, as we stroll the streets, we are surrounded by people who wouldn’t be considered as ‘extras’ in a Hollywood production. We walk daily with people who generally have rather plain and unsplendored countenances. We drive down streets lined with comfortable homes inhabited by families which are functional.

Magazines extolling wondrous bodies with near zero body fat levels are sold by the millions both above and below the counter. ‘Ordinary man’ observing himself in a mirror quickly finds himself on a steep path leading toward feeling like an ugly duckling as he longingly compares himself to the ‘spray tan muscle beacher’ portrayed on the glossy page. After only a few minutes on any beach laden with ‘sunners,’ reality quickly reaffirms in all our minds that the vast majority of society have bodies which contain fat cells which manifest themselves as ungainly rolls in funny places about the body.

The good life, which has been correlated with one’s possessions and purchasing power, is often propagandized upon us as the necessary key to acquiring earthly pleasantness and pleasure. One only needs a minimal exposure to the masses who reside in meager abodes, who can be seen, gratefully and happily enjoying lives minimally encumbered with possessions.

The masses are seen gaining greater pleasure in having pure water to drink than others find in fine wines.

The masses sleep better cocooned in their hammocks than those on the hill restlessly bouncing on their multi-mattressed four posters.

The gourmet with his napkin still spotted from the sauces and sweetmeats of the ‘rich and famous’ quickly downs a handful of pills to quiet his digestive system
which is seconds shy from revolting and racking his body with pain. Ironically, the fundamental diet of the grateful masses often labeled the ‘less fortunate’ results in satisfaction and health.

The blame for the damaging twisting of society’s decaying value system should not be placed solely on the shoulders of those who through the process of birth have been blessed with certain attributes; being blessed with beauty, being well framed or in circumstances of abundance, but with those pseudo-priests who practice their priest craft of unrelenting commercials, spewing forth their propaganda, postulating these attributes as the only standards which are to be accepted and valued.

I really hope we are not jogging ourselves toward a day when Jack Sprat and his wife may be forced to closet their shameful bodies hidden away from the beautiful people.

In our relentless pursuit of the mythical ‘American Dream’ we may have already relegated the middle class to the other side of the tracks.

As we frequent the gourmet section of the frozen foods in the giant box store, (not hard to find contradictions in that statement) filling our oversized cart to overflowing, do we even casually yearn for the little corner store where fresh produce was never sold if it was more than two days old.

Reason and our grappling natures will never allow us to encourage the development of society content with mediocrity, but I often wonder if it might be well if we were to move toward a measure of balance. Would it be so bad if we were to become a little more rational and much less susceptible to what others consider to be of most importance in life.

If we were capable of seeing with vision unclouded by the propagandizers and were able to understand with greater clarity I believe we would be far less prone to desire those things in life which, in spite of all our efforts, will ultimately wrinkle, sag or decay. Would it really hurt us if we were more prone to set our goals and thus use our precious moments of life in the pursuit of those attributes which are lasting, stabilizing and comforting.

Just a last note to the Ponce de Leon which still lingers within:

Rainbows are for viewing and enjoying not for chasing!

Life is for living and enjoying not for mortgaging and spending.