The Four Cornerstones of a Neo Renaissance Life

Lagoon Nebula (From Wikimedia)

We all strive for some sort of balance in our lives, but do we ever find time in our busy days to think about what sort of balance we need or want? Most people would say they want a balance between work, family, and friends. But what about balance within ourselves? Shouldn’t we be inwardly balanced before we endeavor to balance the external factors of our lives?

To me, there are four parts of a balanced life.  They represent our Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual, and Physical selves. Each should be an equal partner in a healthy person. Ignoring any one will harm the others, because we can’t be our best selves if three sides of us are terrific and the fourth sits in a metaphysical corner, moping from neglect. In this day of fast-paced living, instant communication, and information overload, a Neo Renaissance life seeks to slow the world down, put people and events in perspective, and work toward that four-sided balance. Let’s talk about one of those cornerstones. I’ll discuss the other three in subsequent posts.

Spiritual

Whether or not you believe in some sort of Higher Power, or have merely wondered how the heck the Earth was created and how we humans got here and managed to survive and prosper this long, we all need to at least consider the big picture questions.

Not being particularly religious in the organized, church-going way, my spiritual focus is biased toward nature. I recently returned from a five-day solo trip through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) in northern Minnesota. I’ve been to the BWCA close to thirty times, and always return home with my spiritual battery recharged.

The BWCA is unique in that motorized travel is prohibited on all but a handful of its more than 1,000 lakes. Transportation is by canoe, kayak, or foot. Campsites are available on most of the lakes, but are primitive in that they consist of a fire grate, a relatively flat spot to pitch a tent, and an open air latrine set well back from the lakeshore. Cell phones don’t work within most of the BWCA  so visitors must behave as if they have no quick access to help in case of an emergency.

Sunset on Shell Lake, BWCA

Because of its primitive quality, the BWCA is a great place to observe Mother Nature at work. Bear, wolves, deer, moose, river otters, beavers, mink, bobcats, lynx, loons, eagles, trumpeter swans, ruffed grouse, owls, and many other animals go about their daily lives with minimal intrusion from civilization.

Stargazing is exponentially intensified because light pollution doesn’t interfere with viewing. I was fortunate on this latest trip to witness the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) in action. Watching the massive energy emitted from Earth’s magnetic field dance across the sky certainly puts my life in perspective. Each of us is but an atomic particle in the vastness of the Earth, an even smaller particle in the universe. Somehow my personal problems don’t seem so large when compared to what takes place in our atmosphere on any given day.

An example of the Aurora Borealis (From Wikimedia)

At night, sitting beside a campfire on the edge of the water, I often reflect on the vastness of nature and those big picture questions. On this trip I reflected on the fact that the majority of life on earth is destined to become another life form’s lunch. People and the animals at the top of the food chain are the exceptions, and we eventually succumb to illness, injury, or old age, then provide food for the lowest forms of life–bacteria, insects, worms, and the like. Interesting … or depressing if you think about it long enough. No life form has ever gamed the system and lived forever. Some things live for days or even hours (May flies, mosquitos) others live for hundreds of years (tortoises, redwoods). Sooner or later, we are all recycled.

One of my fiction protagonists, Matt Lanier, worked as a guide in the BWCA during high school and college. He also grew up on a farm, which gives a person a deeper understanding of life and death than those raised in an urban setting. Raised Lutheran, Matt attended church regularly like most baby boomers but drifted away from religion as an adult. So he too finds solace and balance in nature and quiet reflection. His wilderness experience colors his life view but also gives him a better sense of self-reliance and confidence, knowing he can survive in a primitive setting with minimal equipment and mobility.

Around that campfire, I wonder about my purpose in the world. Why are each of us here? What is our purpose in being one of more than 7 billion of our species who inhabit the planet at this moment? Most of us will die having done nothing more profound than procreate to insure the continued survival of the species, which is pretty profound to us humans, maybe not so much in the grand scheme of the universe. What will humanity be like in ten years? In a hundred years? A thousand? How long will Earth continue to support life?  If the human race survives long enough, what will we do when the Sun eventually burns out? Do other life forms exist on other planets? Will we communicate with them some day? Do they have all the answers? Will Earth ultimately matter in the grand scheme of the Universe? IS there a grand scheme? Or is this all one big random occurrence, or a crazy experiment by the creator(s) of the universe? And if universe creators exist, they must live somewhere other than this universe, so where did they come from?

And my biggest question of all: Will humans still be playing the game of golf in 10,000 years?

My question to you: How and where do you recharge your Spiritual battery?

A Moment of Zen

Under enough peer pressure, sooner or later we all conform. The second clip is particularly mesmerizing.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/05/17/184815141/the-little-metronome-that-wouldnt?ft=3&f=111787346&sc=nl&cc=es-20130526

Why Music Matters to the Neo Renaissance Writer

The first protagonist I ever wrote in a novel is Matt Lanier, a farm boy from southern Minnesota with a near-genius level IQ. He’s a professional musician in the classical and jazz arenas, but can also hunt and fish, butcher a chicken for dinner, paddle a canoe and navigate in the wilderness, fix a motor, speak passable French, and knows something about art and art history, among other interests.

They key reason I wrote Matt as a musician is that music is one of a few disciplines that combines the abilities of both sides of the brain. I figure an ordinary guy like him should have some extraordinary powers if he wasn’t a cop, soldier, or government agent. “Why do musicians have special powers?” I hear you ask. Here’s how:

• Music and the left brain:

The left side of the brain handles the linguistic, logical, analytic, objective functions of the mind. In music, this correlates with translating the written code on the page (the sheet music) into signals to the body to create certain notes on one’s instrument. In simplest terms, imagine a computer generated performance of a song. Every note is the correct pitch, correct length, correct volume. But even if the most skilled human musicians or computer-generated music can sound technically perfect, something is still missing. That missing ingredient comes from the right brain.

• Music and the right brain

The right side of the brain handles the emotional, creative, intuitive functions of the mind. In music, this correlates with interpreting the notes on the sheet music in a way that communicates emotional impact to the listener. The right brain is also where spontaneous composition (aka improvisation) is generated.

If you’ve ever cried while listening to music interpreted by professional musicians, your right brain has responded to the way the performers have interpreted and imbued the notes with some sort of passion. The composer’s intention may have been to move the listener to tears or sadness. Other compositions may have elicited tears of joy, an urge to celebrate, dance, revere God, or even anger and/or confusion.

Here’s one of the best examples I can find to illustrate the difference between technical “perfection” and deep emotional response. Left brain vs. right brain.

Left brain first: 

Now right brain: 

Get a different feeling in your gut with each version? I found the second version to be quite emotionally powerful. Some of you may  have gotten more emotional impact out of the first version. It all depends on your personal experience with either type of performance and what sort of stimulation moves you to feel a certain emotion. Your emotions are unassailable. They’re always right.

Version two, even discounting the effect of the setting being the Super Bowl, as well as  the accompanying video of crowd roars and jet flybys, was quite different from the first. The tempo and meter were different, different instruments were used (orchestra vs. wind band) and this performance had vocals by one of the great pure voices and singing talents of her generation-Whitney Houston. Like her personal life or not, the lady had one kickass set of pipes and knew how to interpret a song to make you feel the way she wanted you to feel about that song and those lyrics.

Back to the left-right brain theory: both sides are equally important in music. The left side (think logic) enables one to analyze, understand, quantify and qualify the music. We listen to the US Marine Band and our left brain tells us their performance is technically flawless. Our right brain may have some input, perhaps on the order of making us feel a patriotic emotion of some sort–perhaps an Olympic gold medal ceremony, or recalls our past military experience or that of a friend or family member.

When Whitney Houston sings the “S.S.B.,” out right brain may dominate. I’m guessing many of us also felt tears welling up, stomachs roiling a bit, a sense of joy floating through our bodies. Perhaps the Marine Band performance elicited a stronger dose of patriotism. Or maybe you felt sorrow for a loved one lost in combat.  The two versions brought out unique sets of emotions because your right brain participated in listening along with your left.

The skills my protagonist, Matt Lanier has honed over the decades of his music career are a keen ear for details. He also happens to have perfect pitch, sharp hearing down to very soft levels, and he understands nuance in sound more than most. This is imperative in music, but comes in handy in the story because he can hear the slightest changes in people’s voices when they are lying to him vs. when they’re telling the truth, which keeps him investigating the death of a  friend even when he seems to have reached a dead-end.

The language of musical notation is all about details. Perhaps dozens of bits of information must be analyzed in one bar of music to make sure those notes are played perfectly. Matt’s keen eye for detail saved him from being blown to bits in a propane-leak explosion because he noticed that a closed door that should have been open. He opened the door to put it in its proper place, then smelled gas and barely got out alive (spoiler alert!).

So you can see, being a professional musician could come in handy some day for a character thrust into a suspense novel on the plains and forests of Minnesota. It might make the difference between life and death. :-)

My questions: Are you left-brain dominant or right-brain dominant? Tell me about the song or piece of music that had/has the greatest emotional impact on you, whatever the emotion.

New Beginnings

Today is my first official post as “A Neo-Renaissance Writer.” You may wonder why I changed my blog’s title. Here are a few reasons:

• The  protagonists of my fiction writing will be Renaissance people (or polymaths)–characters who have a broad array of talents and interests. As such, I hope to encourage you to discover how well-rounded individuals can survive and prosper in challenging situations.
• I’ll be able to blog about a wide range of topics that interest me and may interest you.
• I feel society has gotten away from training its citizens to be well-rounded individuals. Especially in the workplace, specialization has become the norm. Unfortunately, that limits a person’s marketability in the workforce, and puts them at a disadvantage in new social situations where conversation comes around to topics they’ve never even learned basics in. Examples off the top of my head are: civics, politics, economics, the arts, and philosophy. I hope to broaden your perspective, spark your interest in a new subject, and perhaps teach you something you will find helpful in your life.

Why do I think I’m qualified to call myself a Renaissance Man? First of all, I don’t consider myself a RM in the mold of da Vinci, Jefferson, or Franklin.

I’m just an above-average intelligent man who has studied many subjects and become a “qualified expert” in a few areas. I mentioned those skills in a previous post, so I won’t bore you again. My philosophy is to approach life as a perpetual learning/teaching experience and receive as well as give as much joy and positive energy as possible. Also, I feel we should all be enlightened citizens and be aware of how the world really works in all ways in order to help the species survive (as well as help Earth itself survive). Lastly, learning is just plain FUN (notwithstanding this serious guy, who always impressed me as trying to digest some revolutionary new idea that a friend has just dropped into his brain).

(Photo by Yair Haklai)

I’ll divide future posts into four general categories: Intellectual, Emotional, Physical, Spiritual. Certain posts will cover multiple categories. Golf, for example, is a Physical pursuit, but the Intellectual challenge of playing well is mind-boggling. And don’t get me started on the Spiritual aspects of golf! I know very few serious golfers who on some level don’t acknowledge the existence of “the Golf Gods.” I’ll explain them in a future post about golf.

I’m sure many of you are even more expert in many areas than I am in mine. One thing we can do is start a dialogue about our favorite subjects and interests, and learn from each other. So let’s get started.

My first question in my new blog format is: What are you most interested in/expert at/or desiring to learn about?  And why?

You call this spring??? In Minnesota … yeah, we do.

My town made national weather headlines today. 13+ inches of snow fell overnight and we may get more today through tomorrow.  One observer in the area reported 15 inches as of this morning. This is the winter that won’t die! Arrgghh!

I thought it was bad last night.

May 1 2013. Evening.

Then I woke up this morning.

May 2, 2013. Morning

This storm may go down as a record snowfall anywhere in Minnesota during the month of May, and I’m only 35 miles from the Iowa border! Snow like this is only supposed to happen in NORTHERN Minnesota. And not usually in May. I’ve seen a few mid-April blizzards, so our snowy April this year wasn’t that big of a deal, but this … Good thing I didn’t put my snowblower away for the season yet.

We lost a couple 3-4 inch-diameter branches from two trees, and one large tree elsewhere in town fell onto a parked car. This is wet, heavy, saturated snow too. One shovelful weighs about 20 pounds.

What’s funny, but a little sad too, is the birds seem thrown for a loop. I saw four robins sitting out on the snowbanks left by the plow and they looked confused, as in “How’re we supposed to build nests when all the twigs and grass are covered by this white crap?”

Two either sparrows or finches were fluttering around my office window earlier as if they were looking for a place to perch on the roof or wanted to come inside and get out of the damn cold! The sad part for the birds is that this snow may not melt fast in the next two days, which might compromise their ability to find food. Also, if they’re building nests or have already laid eggs, this cold weather might either kill the eggs or delay nesting to the point where the females lay eggs in an unfinished nest.

Oh well, as we like to say here in Minnesota, this kind of weather keeps the riff-raff out.

For a little fun, let’s have a caption contest. Knowing that the following picture was taken in Minnesota on May 2, 2013, think up a funny caption and post it in the comments. I’ll pick the one I like best. No prize, just bragging rights.

 

 

Woo-hoo-hoo! Three thousand hits!

Short post today- not a “Renaissance blog” post- just a “how about that” moment. I just noticed today that the 3000th hit on this blog happened recently. It took my blog three years, one month, and twenty-six days to hit that milestone. 1,154 days. 3000 visits. That’s 2.6 visits per day. Not exactly setting the blogosphere on fire. Oh well. I’m not trying to make a living blogging. Just getting my feet wet for the inevitable time when  I become a best selling author and have to pay someone to write my blog for me because I’m so busy being interviewed on Letterman, Charlie Rose, and CSPAN’s book discussion programs.

My question today to all you bloggers out there is: How many hits per day are you getting on your blog, and how long have you been blogging? No prize for the oldest blog or the most hits, just curious how I stack up with others. If I really suck at this, any suggestions on how to get that hits per day number over 3.0?

UWWI Thoughts and Impressions 2013

(My next blog post will start toward the new direction I’m taking this blog–A Neo Renaissance focus for us specialized, compartmentalized, 21st-century Americans.) Keep those suggestions rolling in!   *haven’t had a single one yet*

For the third consecutive year I attended the University of Wisconsin-MadisonWriters’ Institute. It’s a weekend full of writers, agents, instructors, workshops, networking, success stories, commiseration with fellow writers about our writing failures, and celebration of our minor–or  major–writing victories.

I’m pleased to have gotten to know two authors who’ve published books in the past year. One went traditional and produced a print book with a traditional publisher. The other self-published her manuscript as an e-book. Both told me of the hard work, research, and emotional roller coaster of getting a book from an idea to a finished project. Writing is damn hard, but the selling and promoting may be the harder part.

Sometimes a meeting of like-minded people, such as 250-300 writers, gives a struggling writer more hope than help. more inspiration than information,  more emotional benefit than educational benefit. Just being around other writers energized me, as well as the stimulation of getting out of my town and my social set; getting with writers, but also absorbing the vibe of the college students I observed each day on my way to and from the hotel where the conference took place.

I think that’s what sparks creativity–new stimuli. Not wandering around a park waiting for inspiration to strike like lightning, but exposing one’s mind to new and different sights, sounds, smells, tastes, people, and settings.

All in all, while not perfect and suffering from growing pains this year, the UWWI was a success for me, and worth my time, money and effort to get there.

My questions to you: Where do you go for inspiration? What conventions, seminars, classes, etc. have benefitted your personal career?