Fat Tuesday
The press made a big deal out of Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year - how important it is to show N’awlins bouncing back, etc… It seems as if everyone wanted to get in on the “solidarity” thing by having a Mardi Gras party. I attended two separate events this past week with Mardi Gras themes. One was promoted as a Fat Tuesday celebration - even though it was actually a “Good Neighbors” awards ceremony. The second was a “schmooze and booze” thing and was held the Thursday FOLLOWING Ash Wedsnesday. I was a bit put off by that: it misses the whole (original) intention of what Fat Tuesday is all about. Ash Wednesday is the only day in the liturgical calendar that the vestments are black - to remind us of our death. (Some people would be surprised to learn that the color for Good Friday is purple. Ash Wednesday is considered by the Christian church to be more solemn.) “Remember, man, that thou art dust and to dust thou shall return.” Who wants to be reminded of that? Fat Tuesday is about forgetting that for a little while before descending into Lent. “Laissez les bon temps roulez” and all that…
I came of age during the time when Carlos Casteneda first began publishing his drug exploits as an apprentice of a mysterious sorcerer named Don Juan. The books had a huge impact on me. Carlos Casteneda was to me what “Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Repair” was to many of my peers. I clearly remember an episode in which Don Juan instructs Carlitos that Death is our constant companion -always just behind us and always just out of sight. The wise person learns to think of Death as an ally - one that saves us from self-importance and pettiness. If we remember that Death is always just over our shoulder, we remember to live each day - each moment - as if it were our last. If we can do that (and who can, really?), when Death does finally overtake us, we will have no regrets about our life.
ALL THINGS WITH EXUBERANCE!
mary!
