Falling in Love with Dead Men.

Alright, I will admit: dead men are more attractive to me than live ones...

Why, you say. Because of many reasons. But before I tell you why, let me show you a few of the dead men of whom I speak. The first dead man is:

William Faulkner
1897-1962

Let me give you an excerpt of his speech for the Nobel Prize in 1949:
"...He must learn them [issues of the heart] again. He must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed - love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice. Until he does so, he labors under a curse. He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion. His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands...."

Does anyone realize how prophetic this is!? WWII had just ended and alll everyone worried over was about being annihalated by the atomic bomb. Thus, the human race forget about the issues of the heart; the true issues that lead to atomic bombs, and war, and annihalation of the human race. We have gone no further with the issues of the heart. We are all greedy for wealth and renown. Many say, it is because once they have these, they will do good for the rest of the world, but when it is gotten, they forget. Faulkner saw this because of his acute observation, and stellar ability to communicate his heart to everyone listening. I love him for his directness and acuity.

Another wonderful dead man is (as I shared with you yesterday):
                                    
Albert Einstein
                                    1879-1955

Einstein also won the Nobel Prize, but for Physics, unlike Faulkner's prize for Literature. Why is he loved? Read yesterday's blog.

Another one is:
                                                                                         

John Keats

1795 -1821

A Romantic Poet, he died way too young (24) and actually wrote more meaningful than many elder folks at such a young age. His poetry was filled with insight about love, loss, and hopeful, memorable thoughts. He was passionate and lived only long enough to see his family through death. So it was, that he was destitute and his friends saw him through his own death. What friends. But friends like that come when someone like John Keats is a good friend himself, which apparently he was. Read his short bio, it only encompasses about 20 years of his short life.

Another dead man is:
Robert Frost
1874-1963

I believe Frost was a very private and difficult individual to understand, especially in person. His poems, however, say much of his constant dilemmas in life, and how he saw the labor of his journey through it. It seemed to him to be rigorous, indeed. It is evident he did not share much with those closest to him; his son committed suicide. Frost suffered over that all his life, and remained with one woman the entire length of it. I see those elements as those of a serious minded, reflective human being, who learns from his mistakes. His poetry, like John Keats, gave evidence of a great heart of passion and longing, and yet a steadfast, disciplined pace of which their poetry depicts. How can one not love such men.

Another man was:
Shel Silverstein
1930-1999
, and yet another was:
Pablo Neruda
1904-1973
  and yet another was:

Langston Hughes
1902-1967
  and yet another was:

William Shakespeare
1564-1616


Alright, alright....you get the picture.....WHY these men are so worthy of my love, and EVERY womans' love...

                                                                ********************

Do you understand why some dead men are more attratctive than live ones? Because we find out AFTER THE FACT.....We find out AFTER they are dead, what sensitive, intellectual, deeply moving and passionate, and truly authentic men they are! That is, if a woman was born or raised into reading after these kinds of men died. Thank God for books, and the meaning of saving words for posterity...

I tire of going on with this muse, for she is pining deliberately from boredom. However, there is a thread of resemblance that goes through these once living souls. They are not men that give up easy. They are men of heart and passion, and every one of them were idealistic in their deeper soul, while none of them withheld themselves from the larger forum of humanity as they secretly longed for more love and beauty in life itself.

What this says of these men is that people remember men like this. Men who leave hope for nobility and charity, and apathy, and wonderment, as well as depict in their words those human weaknesses such as disillusionment, broken-heartedness, desperation, and loss. These men shown the real humanity of which we are all capable.

Unfortunately, the men of today use too much of their time and energy on material and valueless things. What living men can learn from these deadmen, is self-authenticity as a noble human being of which everyone is capable, and how to lead women from frivolity, to athenticity....(women have become frivolous as well, I admit).

Until living men use these qualities of authenticity without fear, and have the courage to be REAL LIVE men, they will not find women of the same caliber. Women are direct reflections of the men in the world in which they live. This is why I would rather live in deadman's land: there aren't too many of those authentic men around anymore.

Forget the 'tool' mentality: the muscles, the brawny car, the money coming out of the ears, and the prestige...All of those things are nice, yes. But sensitivity, authenticity, integrity, and intimacy with love are far greater and you will be remembered when you're dead, too.

Okay, 'nuf said. I'm going back to work.