Y’see, there’s a birthday coming up. Spritzophrenia will be ONE YEAR OLD on December 22nd. How about that? So I’m wondering how I might celebrate this, and hoping you have suggestions.
* Guest posts?
* Look back to an early post and see what I have and haven’t achieved?
* A subscription drive? I’d really like to get more regular readers.
* A Year Of Spritzophrenia: A Retrospective?
* Give away a prize? What could I give away? (Sorry, my virginity’s already been taken.)
I’m sure you can come up with other ideas, I’ve got a month to plan it which still feels way too short. Of course, this may all be much too hard and give me a nervous breakdown. I might just settle for getting drunk in the corner.
Welcome to my 100th post on Spritzophrenia! Not bad for a little over eight months, don’t you think? Perhaps I should wait for the 108th post, a Hindu mystic number? Or the 888th, a propitious Chinese number? Or the 69th, Hugh Hefner’s sacred number? Meh, let’s get on with it…
Numbers make me think of the ancient Hebrew story of the Babylonian King Belshazzar having a feast, and suddenly seeing a ghostly hand writing upon the wall of the banqueting chamber, the words:
Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin
Number, number, weight, division.
Which means, “you’ve been weighed in the balance, and found wanting”. (And your kingdom will be divided among the Medes and Persians.)
Woo!
I don’t know in whose balance I shall be weighed, but I appreciate you guys approving my “weight”. Today, I’ll simply point to some Spritzophrenia posts you might have missed:
I’ve quietly been adding more features. You may have also noticed the new Search box which will help you find topics of interest more easily. Also, because I’ve never had one before, I present my first poll so that you can dictate my future spiritual path
To conclude, I present not one, but TWO of my favourite tunes, if you wish to listen and enjoy. First, “Run” by Ecano (Oliver Lieb in one of his many incarnations). I DJed this song over a 120,000 Watt system to 13,000 people. Ahh, memories.
and Abyss by Wizzy Noise
Thanks for reading Spritzophrenia! Tell me something I didn’t expect to hear:
That was a more interesting title than “Why Spritzophrenia?”, wasn’t it? As evidenced by this comment, it’s probably about time I clarified the theme of this blog.
Yes, it’s a bastardisation of schizophrenic. I was going to call it SpiritoPhrenic, but that just sounded like a stupid CCM title. So spritzophrenic kinda evolved from there. After all, if I’m an open agnostic there might not even be any spiritual world to connect with. But I’m sure having fun exploring unreality.
I don’t fit. I don’t like boxes. As you know, I’m an ex-evangelical. I’m probably beyond post-evangelical in that I’m totally uninterested in churchianity at all. At least from the point of view of practicing it; observation, c’est très amusant. I suspect this is a frequent outcome of post-evangelicalism. By way of boast, I bought and read The Post-Evangelical when it came out in 1995 and was relatively unknown outside of the UK. I’m that cool.
Sometimes in my mind I go beyond mere atheism and become a nihilist or a satanist. In my conception, reading and practice, there’s not a lot of difference. That’s where the title quote came from [1]. If I become a nihilist, I’m not a nice guy. At all.
Rarely I’m a fluffy all-is-one new age buddhisto-hindu. It goes really well with many types of trance music, which is fantastic for getting me to a worship-state. But it’s just so damn hippy, and has all the intellectual credibility of a limp paper tissue. Yes, I know about Fritjov Capra and the new physics.
I love ideas, I love intellectualism, I love novelty. I’m probably a rationalist, ‘tho I find most card-carrying rationalists crashing bores. Edit: See Am I A Rationalist?. I read Dawkins and the rest of that pack of miserable gripes. As a philosopher, Dawkins is a great biologist. If you take my meaning. Would he rate a plumber’s book on evolution? – I think not. But I digress.
I have a friend who is multiple personality disorder, or “multiple” as they prefer. She/he/they are sane. Sane by many definitions, anyway. Likewise it depends on who’s “fronting” for me today as to which hat I wear. But they’re all me. I hope to integrate – a dirty word for multiple people – one day. I may be closer than I think.
I apologise to schizophrenics for perpetuating the “split personality” idea. But hey, we lost that battle a long time ago. Language changes because it’s appropriated by the ignorant masses. eg, “evangelical” used to mean “of the Bible message” when it was used by certain christians to self-define. Now in popular culture it means “ill-educated right-wing fundie bigot”. Or have you noticed how people under 30 now use “gay” to mean “stupid, effeminate, bad taste”, much like the word “homo” was used when I was a teenager? That battle is over too, my dear queer friends.
I have schitzo aquaintances; my cousin is a loony too. I do understand, support, and sympathise with you. I’m thinking of making a paypal donation link from this blog to support mental illness awareness.
By spiritually schizophrenic, I mean that I am really not sure of my final resting ground. But it’s all me. Really me. This is not to say I don’t have opinions or beliefs; with a surety I do. It just means that I’m still exploring. I hate to quote saint Bono, but “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. Or maybe I have, and I’m just taking an extended holiday.
Later today I’ll follow up the post on my pagan experience with something a little more chunky. Specifically, a look at integrity, hypocrisy and pagan ethics. But first, Please Tell Me What To Do.
Thanks for all the comments and interest. This blog, and the 21st Century Schizoid Project is here to help you. However, Spritzophrenia is new, and to do that effectively I need your help. Tell me what you’d like to read about. You already know a little of my story. What would help you? What would get the brain cells ticking over?
We’re about to start a new year – unless you’re Chinese or Muslim, but let’s not be pedantic. Here’s a list of topics which are exercising my heartbrain and I hope to cover in reasonable depth over the year.
Obviously there’s a big crossover between “feeling” and “thinking” topics. We are holistic beings, and I can’t do one very well without considering the other. As always I’ll keep throwing in humour and lighter stuff. My posts often include music and more general personal development tips.
Jonathan’s List for 2010
Feely Topics
(Personal experiences, and spiritual practice.)
* Islam – Peaceful or hateful religion?
* Psychoactive Drugs and the Spirit – Harmful or helpful?
* Celtic spirituality – What I can learn from my ancestors.
* Evil and our dark side – Anger, fear, hate and Barry Manilow
* Satanism – Just for heavy metal bands?
Interviews
* Ismael – a Muslim friend
* Sally – an ex-Catholic atheist
Who else would you like me to talk to? (Does anyone have the Pope’s phone number?) Is anyone here offering? You may have some spiritual experiences and teachings you’d like to share with me.
What would you add to this list? What would you take away? What, out of topics I’ve already covered would you like me to re-visit from another angle? What should I talk about in the book? What would help you in your journey?
