Week 1, #MKMMA, “The 16″ Carving Knife, The Yellow Jackets, And The Pinky Toe…”

I have long been aware, since I was a Puppy growing up in the Connecticut River Valley, that there is more to this Life than meets the Eye. While other boys played b-ball, I Built Model Rockets, and Participated in Star Trek. They went to baseball camp – I Joined Indian Guides, and then The Boy Scouts. I learned of the Native Indians of the NorthEast, and I absorbed their Legacy of Storytelling, and Rites of Passage. I have seemingly always known of a Connection we ALL have to the Energy of the World around us, and our Power to Shape this World with the Force of our Minds.

Later, as a Teen, I studied “The Forever War,” by Joe Haldeman, and then “The Bear,” by Faulkner, and “King Henry V,” by Shakespeare. Each sharing the importance of The Hero’s Journey and Rites of Passage. In My Thirties, while completing My Business Degree, per Required Electives, I bathed in the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, and “Egyptian Poetry”. I took a Period of Time off from My studies for Life, Career, etc., and returned about Eight Years ago, now in Mid-Life-Early-Forties, looking for Meaning and to Make Sense of My Life as it was then. I devoured Robert Bly’s “Iron John,” and I reveled in Joseph Campbell’s, “The Hero’s Journey.”

Specifically, both Bly and Campbell explain to us the Import of Rites of Passage and The Hero’s Journey, and the necessity for our Hero to suffer a Wound or series of Wounds, in order that our Hero may Pass the Test, and Complete their Rite of Passage. I see these following Wounds as a Signal that I am in a Different Time in My Life, and in particular, the two most Recent Wounds, My Beginning of My Journey in MKMMA…

Wound # 1 –
It was during this Time, Mid-Life-Early-Forties, that I gave Myself one of My own Self-Inflicted Wounds, which Bly describes in “Iron John.” I was emptying the dishwasher on no particular Day, having a gay old Time, with My stereo cranked, and I decided to Dance with the Music. As I danced, I recalled Russian Men Dancing with Sharp objects, and the Film, “Dancing With Wolves”…So, you might Guess, I combined the two, and “Danced With Knives”. In particular, a needlepointed, razor-sharp, 16” Zwilling J.A. Henckels. Yup, on each beat, I swung the knife under My one calf, then the other. On about the Fourth swing, I missed…Planting the point of the blade about two inches into My calf…A fast ER trip, several stitches and several hundred dollars after, and I was okay.

I Inherited that knife from the only Grand-Father that I ever knew, My Grand-Daddy Blick. The knife was a prized possession of Duke Blick. I only came to know him in the last Years of his life, due to his Internationally running from My Grand-Mother Blick, another Story. Grand-Daddy appeared to Me late in My Life, and He was a Mentor to Me from a Distance. As Bly explains, the Wound was a Gift from a Gift from My Grand-Father.

“The Wound…We Have To Regard As A Gift.”
By Robert Bly

Wound # 2 –
More Recently, Last Saturday, Stacie & I traveled to one of Our Favourite Hiking and Outdoors State Parks, Georgia’s Renowned Sweetwater Creek State Park. The last Time We were there, We Hiked in and ate Lunch with Our very, very, very Close CowGirl-Friend, Kari Maxwell. Kari had become a Mentor to Both Stacie & Me. She was the closest Person to being an Older Sister to both of Us, which either of Us has ever had in Life. Kari moved to another Plane of Existence Last February. She was a True CowGirl, Hunter, and PlainsWoman. She was Our Enkidu.

“Enkidu Then Becomes The King’s Constant Companion, And Deeply Beloved Friend,

Accompanying Him On Adventures Until Enkidu Is Stricken Ill.”

Stacie & I wanted to go Honour Kari’s Life at Our Favourite Indian Rock Cave deep in the Park. The Last Place We Three Ate Together. I backpacked Our Picnic far into the Park. We bushwhacked Off the Beaten Trail to the Mouth of the Cave, and setup, and began to Eat Lunch. Midway through Lunch, BOTH Stacie & I found Yellow Jackets on Our persons – Stacie on Her Forehead and Leg, and Me on My Wrist. It was too Late. We were BOTH Stung by the Yellow Jackets.

Because of Our Wound…
“A Rediscovery Of A Gold That Was Always There…”
“A Hint Will Come To Us As To Where Our Genius Lies…
And, We Suddenly See Amazing Images And Realize What We Are Really Good At.”
By Robert Bly

Wound # 3 –
Just this Last Tuesday Afternoon, I was walking in Our Foyer. The light was on in Our downstairs’ WC, and I spun on My left Heal, while stepping with My right Foot into the doorway. Call it Age ( A Young Fifty-Two-And-A-Half ), Presbyopia, being Exhausted, or some combination, but I “pwhacked” My right Foot-Pinky-Toe straight into the doorjamb, with a resounding “Crack-Snap,” akin to breaking an old-fashioned #2 pencil. Once again, needless to say, I had a Self-Inflicted Wound, and for what seemed like a Day or two, a broken Pinky Toe. It is still purple, yet it is fully functional…Phew.

“Where You Stumble And Fall, There You Will Find Gold.”
By Joseph Campbell

Though I do not as of yet know the full Ramifications of these Wounds, I do know that they Comprise a Signal that I have Begun My MKMMA “Hero’s Journey,” with Stacie’s Active and Loving Support.

Love Well, Live Long, And Prosper-Us
With Love,
I Truly Re-Main,
Joseph
~€;-)

“Ah, But A Hu-man’s Reach Should Exceed Their Grasp
Or What’s A Heaven For?”

from Andrea del Sarto – “The Faultless Painter”
by Robert Browning (1812-1889)