Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley...

The odd things that come to mind. Today I had to refresh my memory--I'm ashamed, I couldn't remember that the sarcoplasmic reticulum was a specialized form of the endoplasmic reticulum. I know, I know--how could I let that slip?

And, I had to refresh my memory of the lyrics for Tom Dooley...

I think the real tragedy isn't forgetting. Or, having to look up a fact. Tragedy lies in a young man like Tom Dooley who didn't live up to his potential. Threw his life away on his passions. Or, did he go with the simpler/basic/animal passions and ignore the higher calling, for I am certain that the gifts of logic, imagination, and creativity are universal--yes, universal, I'll go out on a limb and assert that every conscious human has all three of those gifts. Sure, in varying degrees, and some are more or less responsive to cultivation...but my traditional education did very little to foster imagination/creativity. Oddballs were ostracized. Dreaming be dashed!--we've got seatwork/busywork/homework to do! Even our art projects were sorta, "see this, this is how to do it" in many cases. Other art stuff was open-ended, I'm happy to say. Not much room for a wide-open, "Write about something that wowed you!" but, "Write about your summer vacation."

Okay, back to the tragic part: feeling not very creative? I find lots of adults who claim they're not imaginative or creative...and I respectfully disagree. I think the opiate of the masses (TV and other mass-media) weave a cocoon around us, dense and nigh-impenetrable, hindering us from our own imaginative works by drowning us in sensory input--sound, sight, dialogue, feelings toyed with...but none of that our own true feelings or imaginings. So, shut off the media and make/do/write/paint/sing/draw/sketch/garden...we have a friend who had made the map of the USA out of rocks. Not satisfied with that, she made a map of the world! Whenever she hikes, she's finding things to put to creative use. Cool, huh?

So, what's it gonna be? Cocoon or creativity?

As for me and my house,
   we will serve the mouse
over the net in center court
   Oh, blast, I hit it short!

(In honor of Wimbledon, now in session!)

;-p