The whole of the Moon...

First off, have a listen to this song, especially the lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu7AR0-FRro

This is the waterboys "The whole of the moon" song. I listen to it almost every day either walking to or from work. To me, the lyrics are about two friends. One of them spends their life doing all manner of crazy and wild things all over the world, but only learns very basic things from that path. The other friend by comparision stayed still and seemed to see and learn and experience far more without all the effort.

I still feel I have a lot to learn from this song but it made me wonder how some of you feel you learn and experience things best.

I've always know that some people can learn more about humanity and themselves from a 5 minute walk along a busy street than another person would learn from 40 years studying with every guru and mystic on the planet.

Thoughts?

I totally agree with you Kevin some people have maybe better understanding of life than others so even the simplest thing can teach them a new thing

Edit: Nice song btw =P

Some people feel comfortable in their own contexts and are happy. They don't see the whole of the moon but they are satisfied just with the crescent.
Some others need the experience,

With a torch in their pocket
And the wind at theirr heels
they climb on the ladder
And they know how it feels
To reach too high
Too far
Too soon
and see the whole of the moon!
The whole of the moon!

Both experience life in their own ways. Can anybody say that one lives life better than the other?Well, I don't think so. What is more important: to see the whole of the moon or the crescent?For me both are important as long as you can see it and learn something from it.
Humanity you learn everywhere nowadays. People are so worried and busy with their lives that they have no time to see the moon, not to mention their own fellows.I guess we lost the astonishing capacity of seeing. Life includes contemplation too. You don't have to be hunting stars all the time.
We don't have also to study any guru too because your guru is your heart. The guru's role is to unveil it for you.When you reach that point,
your god inside is brought out.

Really nice song :P

I like the meaning behind what the song is about 2 friends, one lives a crazy and wild life while the other is stationary to take everything in around him/her and perceive life. The conception of this song gave my the impression that some only see the crescent of the moon (a part of the moon) and others see the whole of the moon in which they are the ones who understand life and experience contrary to those who only experience life that as little meaning to them.

. . . .more or less realisation of learning various aspects in life that will prepare you for certain events in the future.

Http://youtu.be/xarQlYVGy5A

Kevin your link took me to a youtube banned in my country
so I just googled The whole of the Moon
The moon not only reflects the harmony of our solar system, but also the Light of the sun
A shooting star is more than a meteor traveling in chaos. It is a metaphor for a free spirit that believes the stars have no effect on its destiny . Who says we can't screw in a light bulb? lol

This song makes me think of the way Nikko and I see the world - I see the crescent and he sees the whole of the moon.

I think some people are more analytic and feel wonder by their own ability to wonder, to question and theorise. This makes them seem clever or artistic, but this third-party awareness can also be a weakness, a fearfulness. Some others seem to have a more elemental inhabitance, with an innate simplicity that cuts through any seeming complexities. They seem to have the purity of just being without trying, to find without seeking, to be more receptive, to feel more pain and sheer joy, to be more free- simply because they are not narrowed by their own sense of purpose, by their own thinking.

Instead of analysing their feeling, they just feel the feeling. Instead of needing to write poetry or take photos, they absorb the moment. Instead of being aware of how hopeless a goal can be, they give it a passionate shot. This is being very general.

Of course, it usually takes the former sort of person to recognise the latter sort of person, and that is why I love both sorts of people.

Abby, you take my mental breath away sometimes.

Locks for all my keys and keys for all my locks.

"Of course, it usually takes the former sort of person to recognise the latter sort of person, and that is why I love both sorts of people."

And it takes the latter sort to ground the former sort. We're all around to balance each other out.

Great post, Abby.

What a great post, Abs. I'm definitely a "watching myself thinking" kind of person. I've always felt rather jealous of the people who can lose themselves in a crowd at a concert, for example. Sometimes I just want to feel things without recognizing how, why, and what I'm feeling.

Me too Sibs. Only a few things I've found take me out of myself completely.

Music
Sex
Films
Books

Suffice to say, I'm an avid reader, eater and film fan..and, you know.

Hmm.... maybe that's why I like books so much.

"Suffice to say, I'm an avid reader, eater and film fan..and, you know."

I was trying to find out what music had to do with eating, and then I realized that maybe that wasn't the point.

"Only a few things I've found take me out of myself completely."

Probably why I've always been such a big fan of video games.

Double post
the post without the most

Abby said it so well I hate to tarnish the issue with my opinion. But then that has never stopped me.

I agree with the whole concept that in one state of being you are able to BE in the moment, fully appreciative, while in a different state you seek to achieve things, to strive for the stars, while in yet a third state you analyze, you ruminate. But I also believe the best life, the fullest one possible, is a balance of these experiences, and more besides. At times we all experience the sartorial moment. It can be a time we are filled with awe or simply at peace. At other times we each enjoy the contest of reason; then again we love the hunt, the Great Adventure. Whether driven by reason, emotion, intuition or sensation no one need be tied to any way of relating to the world.

It has saddened me over the course of my life when people describe themselves to me in identity terms. By that I mean, for example: "I see the crescent" or "I'm a whole moon type" or "I'm a Scorpio" or "I'm basically a fear-of-failure type" or "I'm [anything easier to describe than to live beyond]."

Walker Percy, in The Last Gentleman, created a character who decided he was the perfect engineer of life, ready to meet any or all problems. I used to believe that was a great outlook, one that I identified with myself. Then I came to realize you cannot limit yourself to being ready for anything. Paradox, perhaps, but the limitation is there nonetheless. Without putting a label on it, I believe you are best to be all parts of the human equation in whatever state is appropriate at the time. Guide yourself by civility and explore both the crescent and the whole moon.

Aw Larry, I doubt you could never tarnish an issue, only polish. In fact, I don't think your opinion is any different to my own. I suppose I was illustrating two extremes, as given by the song lyrics. But I think there is a spectrum for most things, and mobility within that spectrum. I agree that when people define themselves (e.g. via bloody online personality tests), they may limit themselves by that definition, just like people searching for meaning are limited by their very search. They are more readily inclined toward the crescent state, perhaps.

I'm not sure, though, that the best life is necessarily a mixture of all these experiences. Balance is a good thing to aim for, but I think the best life could be found in any stage of the moon, really. In the full light of the moon, there is a humility and selflessness, a lack of resistance, a force that can only be found without knowing it is there. Yet within the thinnest of crescents, there may be a powerful concentration of awareness where much greatness can be achieved, much poetry can be felt, there is art and politics and processing of ethics and society, the documenting of philosophy and evolution. Here, there is a precious, earnest witness to the human condition.

It is never an either/or, but I think there is no shame in having a general tendency to be a particular "type" of person. Most people can't help knowing it with age (especially the crescent types, haha), even if they are open to new experiences.

Here is a crescent/full moon conversation shared with my husband tonight:

Me: "I'm not sure about ever writing a book. People are just not going to get my writing and I don't know how they will feel about it."

Nikko: "I just don't see how that's actually any of your business."

Because I adore you all so much, oh, so much.
I'll just be the rat who eats the Full Moons cheese
and when I'm down to the crescent, Lick my lips
and jump onto another Full Moon's pleasure.

By all means, Write the Book
As Readers'

"We have a better understanding than you have"

I for one would be standing in line to buy that book.

Kev know this song well from many years ago but admit to never really listening to the lyrics, that has now been rectified, in fact listened to a number of You Tube vids of it. One especially touched me where just Mike Scott and Vinnie Kilduff played to a bunch of very young school kids. There he was just thumping away on the piano singing surrounded by kid's pictures on the wall of cat's dog's horse's sheep and cows in this class room and about 50 screaming young kids... very moving

Think it's about jealousy? Maybe envy...you know each did something that the other wished they had done in the end? Grass alway looks greener..etc etc...???