By Mathias Freese
At a summer’s writers conference in Athens State University in
Alabama, I was on a panel with a media specialist [Caylah Coffeen of
Creative Cornerstones] and two other writers. The panel met after I had
taught a workshop on self-awareness — or what Khrishnamurti called
the awakening of intelligence which was the theme of my last book,
Again. Again and Again. In passing one professor who had observed
my class told me I was a “hoot,” a direct quotation. At 83 I felt I was no
man’s conditioned slave; I was express, full and replete. A lifetime
of sandpapering existence gave me that.
The panel was asked a slew of questions and I felt compelled to have
my say: AI was more than a literary “abomination” then I went on to
quote critic Harold Bloom, “We are all near death experiences,” and
what are we to do with that cell phone call from existence? In a
hectoring manner like some vintage biblical prophet, I addressed the
group. I didn’t get to speak about Will Durant’s observation about the
pertinacity of death. I was not allowed to bring it all together but I had
my say. I was just an old man from the North, a literary crank,
revealing his snarky curmudgeon self. And it was liberating.
At the end a woman took hold of my attention as I was leaving,
struggling to express something ineffable, I thought; in her happily
awakened state – I had impacted upon her in a decidedly non literary
way. Quite something else had occurred. I gave her my new book, she
was surprised and very pleased and we parted, conjoined as we were,
for the short time being, awareness to awareness. It happens from
time to time.
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