Is Vulnerable Invincible?

And what of the structures of power, conditions, routines, and habits?

Sep 10, 2022

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Compass Star Wordsmith is a reader-supported publication. I am currently on a first-in-my-lifetime solo-road trip. Like really solo. My Substack Platform has changed my life. Or more accurately, it has changed my perspective on life. I’m not sure if one’s life can “be changed”.

One’s situation and circumstances do change. And often. And often dramatically. And often those scenery shifts are just that. Everything outside changes while everything inside remains.

I learned first at home and then in prison that there is a different thought paradigm one can employ. Prison doesn’t allow one to activate that thought process though. Still not sure about home.

And then when released, the joy of freedom is so intoxicating and overwhelming that those different thought paradigms get rapidly discarded. Freedom comes with many distractions.

I write about those paradigm shifts and distractive freedoms here at Compass Star Wordsmith. I believe five elements of life create culture. I write about that here.

Life / Food + Music + Art + Craft + History = Culture (L/5e=C)

All interpersonal interactions involve human beings engaged in those elements. We share them freely and easily between us. Think of every weird food you’ve ever loved. Or odd-sounding music you enjoyed. Or a piece of art you can’t comprehend but are obsessed with. Or consider the popularity, or controversy, of Professor Gates’s genetic sleuthing show.

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These are amazing metrics to me. This sense of accomplishment is new to me. This is my baby. I conceived it. I nurtured it. I birthed it. And now I’m growing it. And you are the community I’m raising this baby in. Thank you for caring enough about me and what I feel and think to spend your valuable time and treasure listening to and supporting me.

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Click the Tip Jar to find new and fun ways to buy Ric a coffee on the trip.

Coming back to Farmington . . .

I’ve written extensively about all of the action words in the title and subtitle. As separate and independent concepts. But the more time I spend time alone discovering exactly what solitude is, the more the edges of those concepts become blurred.

The rise of Vulnerability as a pop-psychology phenomenon coincides with the rise in the general path of self-awareness, I believe. Or at least in my situation, it seems. Vulnerability is a valid concept, but like all power models, it is easily manipulated.

Driving into Farmington today caused a physiological reaction in my body. My heart started pounding. My breathing intensified. My mind raced. Memories of the past crashed into thoughts of the future. The flotsam and jetsam threatened to damage the present.

Sound advice to ride the wave came in a timely fashion from The Sister. So here I go, riding that wave. Look for updates of the weekend on Monday.

In the meantime enjoy some sights of the ride.