The Heart of the Matter
March 10, 2023
Last Night I Googled Longing

womanlonging.jpg

Last night I googled longing.

What I found surprised me. Ninety-five percent of the images were women: Women dreaming. Women staring out windows. Women brushing their golden hair beneath the full moon. Oh... and lots of Goddesses, too.

Where were the men?

Hunting buffalo? Watching the Superbowl? Mowing the lawn? I'm guessing their absence had something to do with the male concept of survival. After all, wars, hunting, and politics aren't all that conducive to inspired questings of the heart, are they?

OK. So, maybe men don't stare out windows or wait by doors for their wives to return home from war, but surely they are feeling something. Surely, men want more out of life than just a cheeseburger, beer, and tattoo. No?

To put it bluntly, most men consider longing a girly thing, a sign of weakness, a minor holiday card invented by Hallmark.

Dear brothers and sisters and those beyond gender, I suggest we put an end to this madness once and for all. Longing is not a girly thing. It is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. And before I go on, let me make one thing abundantly clear: when I refer to "longing," I am not referring to a poetic kind of eye-rolling "desire" or a beatific "wanting." No. I am talking about something else -- the innate, ancient, holy, soul-infused, irreducible, on-fire, uncontainable, off-the-grid, socially unacceptable, messy, irreverent, moon-howling, highly uncomfortable, often unhinged, not-conversation-fodder-for-the-first date, unbridled aching for something timeless, pure, and unconditional.

Poets write about it, but it's got nothing to do with words. Composers symphonize about it, but it's got nothing to do with notes. Artists paint about it, but it's got nothing to do with color.

Feeling. That's what it's about. Deep, deep feeling. What holds you when you fall. Why you leap and why you don't. What lovers feel when they must take their leave, no one left to hold, but something quaking in every cell to behold when all alone. The celebration of the soul's thirst quenched for the last time or is it the first and then, without a single thought, a puppet at the end of God's beautiful string, raising your voice and your glass to the sky and singing, Leonard Cohen smiling down from the Great Beyond, "Whoever you are, my friends, the next round's on me!"

And so, with great respect for who you are, dear wayfarers who have made it this far, as the self-appointed President and Chief Hun of the Longing Liberation Front for Muscle Bound Males, allow me to (Chest Bump! High Five! Shot of Red Eye!) refer you to someone who truly understands the game of life, this play within a play, this illusion that's as real as you want it to be, a fine gentleman, indeed, one who knows, in his bones, and yours too, I might add, that the ones who get to where they are going, are the ones who are already there -- rising like waves from the pull of the moon, sea spray in their hair.

May I introduce you to Prem Rawat?

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at March 10, 2023 11:07 PM

Comments

Contratulations!

Posted by: blancaoraa [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 29, 2008 05:51 AM

Fun to read well written material, thanks

Posted by: anacapa [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 29, 2008 07:43 PM

That was excellent. Great read!

Posted by: innapeace [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 24, 2009 01:20 AM

I thought that this is good. I watched the Coach Rawat And I like his way.

Posted by: Lazybk [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 21, 2011 02:04 PM

I came to this site while feeling feelings and Mitch you are right. My dreams turned in> to feelings are longing. I long for a place to raise horses to have enough money to last the rest of my life and to have someone to share all this with. Longing turns to manifistation and life goes on in joy and peace. Thank you.

Posted by: Lazybk [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 21, 2011 02:13 PM

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Welcome to Mitch Ditkoff's blog about what's really important in this life: Peace, gratitude, love, joy, clarity, and the effort required to wake up and smell the roses. Enjoy!

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