UNCLE WEIRDO Explains The Miracle of Reinvention

My friend Anne posted a meme this morning.

There are a few ways to take this. First, I have to challenge the thought that getting old is weird. Why is getting old considered weird? Is that true? For some people, aging is disorienting. What once felt right, now feels awkward. People who were close may be distant. So we question. Everything. And that is a good thing.

Questioning is a sign of growth. A sign that we still care, so take a moment and ask your honourable question.

Weird is a matter of context, a barometer of your personal comfortable zone; what to you might seem weird, can be the normal for someone else. To say that getting old is weird is not only inaccurate, but it denies that weird is malleable.

Years ago I took my nephew on a tour of the city. I brought him with me to a band practice in a practice studio that was also an artists studio. On the wall, there hung giant canvases, perhaps 10 to 15 feet wide and tall, filled with a violent fantasy of erotic skinheads in Berlin, courtesy of the artist Attila Richard Lukacs. They were beautiful, repulsive, erotic, frightening, filled with the youthful passion of the artist. These works were definitely not going to be “popular ”, but what an introduction to real art!

A year or so late, we were at a family reunion and my nephew had too much to drink and starting going on about me, calling me his Uncle Weirdo.

At the time I was a bit hurt, in that I had gone out of my way to introduce him to the cutting edge of art and music and all he got out of it was Uncle Weirdo.

But consider just how much his mind had been blown open by what to me seemed very normal. Art and artistic vision was part of my life, and part of my friendship circle. For him, it was wildly disorienting. If there were alarm bells to ring, it was a five alarm fire. In his more conventional straight context, the entire scene was far from normal.

So at best, weird is a floating goalpost. Now getting old is more definable, more relatable. We start out young, and with the grace of God or dog, we get older, and hopefully wiser.

Young in the dark, the mystery of the other

Farther and Father and mind over Mother.

What about the concept of the trapped shitshow of a body? Is there an enthusiastic kid inside us? This second part of the meme contrasts the feelings of childlike enthusiasm, with the war torn body we inhabit. If we get the chance to age and to get older, in most cases our body takes a few hits. But the shitshow can be revised, remodeled, remade and like the spirit of David Bowie, reinvented.

My wife Michelle embraced yoga and it’s protocols for challenging oneself. She is dedicated and goes almost every day. The other day she caught a glass mid air. While many of us would be picking up the shards, she was putting it back in the cupboard.

After my bypass, I embraced working out to some degree. I now long to get back to it. As soon as the nausea and weakness subside, I have to begin again to remake Dennis into a new and better Dennis. Sober, vegan and as funny as ever.

Life is all about choices. What is normal? What is weird? What is a shitshow and what is a opportunity? Clearly, cancer is life changing, and unfortunately for some, it is life ending. But there is only one guarantee this life, and that is death. You will die. I will die. We all gonna die.

But wait! Look up, because you’re not there yet. I’m not there yet. It is amazing what we can accomplish, especially if we embrace the miracle of reinvention.

In the Eighties, I wrote a song called Dream Takeover. It was a fantasy, but it was also a challenge about how we literally could change the world in our sleep. My thought was if we could harness the power of dreams, manifesting our dreams through conscious actions, we could realize the potential of the plastic brain. What if we could literally CHANGE THE WORLD IN OUR SLEEP? We could start a Dream Takeover.

This morning on my walk, I took this photo of the sidewalk. There were blue sparkles splashed on the coruscating concrete aggregate, probably from a neighborhood child, as many if them are busy making small fairy kingdoms at the foot of the trees on the walkway. Although my camera could not see the sparkles, my physical eyes did see them.

So I placed my faith in the power of modern editing, and damned it I didn’t find and reveal those blue sparkles!

How did I do that? One step at a time. Focus, change the brightness, the contrast, bring out the black point, add some vibrancy to what is there. Slowly the blue sparkles emerge. One sparkle at a time.

Just like how we can change the world in our sleep. One dream at a time. One sleep at a time.

Start tonight. What do you want to change?

"When an idea reaches critical mass there is no stopping the shift its presence will induce."

Imagine your body is young, vibrant and beautiful. It is you know. We are made up of many parts and I guarantee there are still a few that work. Concentrate on what is working. Now envision that spreading. Like a cancer but this time, it is a cancer of positive change. A ripple becomes a wave becomes an ocean. Growing, expanding and leaving the old “you” in the dust. Or the water if we are consistent with the metaphor.

In the daytime hours, you could work out or do yoga. You could eat better. Expand your mind with reading a book or even a poem. Start small. If that seems too hard, at least keep moving. Keep stretching and pushing yourself, because if you don’t move it, the opposite will happen. Entropy and gravity and calcification will set in. Once you allow yourself to become hardened, it is harder to dial it back. Harder, but not impossible. Start small. Remember to be kind to yourself. You are changing. Pain is part of the process. Love yourself for embracing the change. Allow yourself to let it be. Let it be and accept the present, or let the “be” be the impetus to change.

Death is not to be feared. It is to be respected, because it is guaranteed.

What else is guaranteed?

Change.

You can make changes, even in your sleep.

Thanks again to the patrons who believe in me. New Judys Fuck Cancer TShirts are now available in all sizes. $40, e-transfer to millsdw@telus.net.

If you live farther away, we have to figure out postage. Feel free to drop me a line. Or comments. I love comments. It’s like a conversation, which is always better than talking to yourself.