Joy (1990, pp. 332-333) has more to say about the painful experiences of one’s body—specifically as it relates to the very nature of existence (the topic I am addressing in this essay):
“I do not subscribe to an infantile idealization of existence and of the planet. Life is a teacher of great intensity and integrity. Its rewards are mostly beyond the ability of ordinary awareness to appreciate. Its lessons are often painful and final. “The Awakening individual does not define mature livingness through children’s values—those of personal love, nourishment, protection, immediate gratification, pleasure, sensuality, and unconscious sexuality. The Awakening individual is capable of undertaking a painful, dangerous, and arduous task for the experience of expanded development… just as Life does when chaotic circumstances serve to churn or even to mutate its vast pool of precious genes, generating unexpected and more resourceful options for existence.
According to Joy (1990, p. 333), we mature amid awareness regarding earthly calamities as they occur within the vast nothingness of existence:
“Most of life’s dramatic moments cannot be handled with the resources of the Child, and adults who do revert to their Child under stress are a profound liability to themselves and to society. The re-actions of people to calamitous events such as the San Francisco earthquake of 1989, the Bhopal gas disaster in India, the Valdez oil spill in Alaska, the Chernobyl nuclear rupture in the U.S.S.R., and hurricane Hugo, to mention only some of the most recent catastrophes, present numerous examples of the differences between adult individuals who approach disaster with the resources of their frightened Child (and who, in our society, often require social workers and therapists to help them handle the anxiety and fear) and those who approach disaster with the resources of a Mature Adult. Persons in that latter category are most likely those who have been initiated into Life and who feel awe and respect for nature, inspiration in regard to the capacity of human beings to help one another physically survive crisis, greater appreciation for their own lives, and a heightened understanding of their personal capacity to engage life and death and the responsibilities of existence.
As an Adult, I do not believe in sacrificing maturity to maintain the Child or to maintain the family context in which the Child aspects of the Adult attempt to survive. I need my full resources to enjoy and to appreciate Life–with its unknown destiny and its unknown purposes. And my soul yearns to discover individuals who can join me in exploring the Mystery of Life, who can do so without defense, and with strength, vulnerability, and a sense of inspiration.”
It is in these final words that we find the essence of the guidance that Brugh Joy has to offer us when faced with achieving something of importance amid nothingness and the void caused by the loss of childhood confidence in the goodness of nature and existence. We become adults when we recognize that challenges are inevitable in our ongoing life and that perhaps these challenges are best met in community with other brave souls.
Conclusions
The matter of nothingness, as it interplays with something, aligns with the journey through Tuonela, and the musical journey through the discordant and concordant passages of a violin concerto, I have suggested in offering these musical comments, that our frequent journeys from nothingness to something be engaged with other people. There is room for our thoughtful and creative colleagues on the boat in Tuonela and at the concert where the concerto is played. We can certainly benefit from the diverse perspectives and practices of our colleagues.
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