tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post472307869793169585..comments2024-03-16T09:24:45.474+01:00Comments on 22 Billion Energy Slaves: ObituaryJason Heppenstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-84546521766309056252012-07-17T01:46:15.001+02:002012-07-17T01:46:15.001+02:00Thank you for your plain and honest words about yo...Thank you for your plain and honest words about your father. I appreciate your lack of sentimentality and taking stock in an even and fair way what must be conflicted or absent within you. We are all complex and often don't realize what we have until it is gone. But, things we don't want or need--especially those others think we should want or need--can be let go of. <br /><br />A therapist once reminded me that parents are just people after all. As an adult it's hard to shake our terrified child selves and realize that these people which lorded over us are not as all-powerful as they had us believe. Even in my early 40s, this is a shocking truth. <br /><br />Derek<br />dex3703.wordpress.comDerekhttp://dex3703.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-39527722986674098022012-07-17T00:27:36.195+02:002012-07-17T00:27:36.195+02:00Hi Jason,
I haven't commented on here for a w...Hi Jason,<br /><br />I haven't commented on here for a while, but I've been following. You write well and I enjoy your angle on things.<br /><br />As for your Father...well I won't say anything much as there's nothing to be said that can change anything. I have a similar relationship with my living mother and my partner just lost her mum who she was close to. I guess as humans we all live in these short cycles of time between birth and death (my 3rd was born two weeks ago), and there just isn't much time to get used to things before they change! But nevertheless - respect for laying it out in your blog - those are tough things to say.<br /><br />It was interesting that you said: <br /><br />'all I can remember feeling since I was very young was that we were destroying the world and that by the time I was an adult much of it would have been wrecked'<br /><br />As I was just saying to my partner this evening that that was one of my earliest continuous convictions/understanding. You were also born in the same year as me and we both bought property abroad (you in Spain, me in the south of France- to try and live a better life, and subsequently couldn't make it work) - I've been meaning to ask you more about that as I see the similarities! I also wanted to ask you about something you posted on the ADR a while back: you said that you'd be leaving Denmark and coming back to the UK (with some certainty it seemed). What are you up to that brings you back over here? Sorry if I've missed that in another post - please just point me if so.<br /><br />Anyway, I hope the funeral goes off ok - you might be surprised at the emotions then. Whatever happens, see the lessons as they present themselves, and learn them.<br /><br />Regards, Mattafterthegoldrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05092262487467280948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-27392608560512345162012-07-13T20:08:28.430+02:002012-07-13T20:08:28.430+02:00I quit flying years ago for a number of reasons, c...I quit flying years ago for a number of reasons, chief among which was the revelation (to me) of how much noxious crap (CO2, unburned fuel, particulate) each jet-powered aircraft was spewing into the upper atmosphere; there to hang for months, if not years.<br /><br />I still own and drive a car, albeit sparingly - but that too will be gone in the not-to-near future.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04410439088299142773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-70371063622333221162012-07-12T16:22:41.520+02:002012-07-12T16:22:41.520+02:00My father died 2 years ago (I am 63) and it was li...My father died 2 years ago (I am 63) and it was like nothing to me. I tried to have feelings considered "normal" but nothing came. He was just part of the problems we are in today: a human being with no consciousness whatsoever of what was going on on this planet and even if I tried, I do not have any feelings towards him.<br /><br />as for Chomsky's: ”The general population doesn't know what is happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know.”<br />here is my take: As a society/group of human beings, we are DRUNK on oil. There is no way we are going to wake up because we are on a drinking binge. And if the saying is true, "they" will no even suffer when dying because drunk people do not feel the pain. Neither the pain they are experiencing, nor the one they are inflicting.<br />sidenote: last night I was at a summer picnic with a group where I am an activist and ALL I heard about was the plane trips that everybody was taking during the summer with the usual pride at travelling and the usual awe due to travellers. The sky is never blue here since 2009. Always covered in clouds formed by the exhaust of planes...michele/montrealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-25566824835499827232012-07-12T05:18:29.699+02:002012-07-12T05:18:29.699+02:00Jason,
My sympathies on losing your father. I ca...Jason,<br /><br />My sympathies on losing your father. I can understand the mix of emotions, having lost a parent years ago.<br /><br />Now I'm a father of a daughter and a son and see how hard it is- to raise a son. Daughters adore their fathers- sons challenge them- and fathers challenge (but that may be too mild a word) their sons.<br /><br />It's good to see the good in him and be honest about what isn't. I hope that when the time comes for me to do the same, I can do it as well as you did.<br /><br />Jeff<br />eighthacrefarm.blogspot.comJeff Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06285239745975791484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-33953187042710619052012-07-10T20:26:56.818+02:002012-07-10T20:26:56.818+02:00Wow. That was an incredibly moving essay even bef...Wow. That was an incredibly moving essay even before the news about your father, which subsumed the issues you began with - what I call "pre-traumatic stress syndrome" about how fast things are unraveling. I hope you'll come back to them in time.<br /><br />Your description of your father is fascinating. He seems to have embodied enormous self-contradiction. As a survivor of a fragmented family, I thank you for pouring out your raw emotions and memories here. It elicits something universal for all of us to ponder - the conflicting feelings towards our own parents that are often intrinsic in the relationship. Think of Oedipus, Electra, Hamlet and Kafka's Metamorphosis! You know, all happy families are boringly the same...<br /><br />Wishing you peace in the coming days...and maybe you can find a picture.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-62509401858823926122012-07-10T16:07:49.202+02:002012-07-10T16:07:49.202+02:00Thanks guys.
At this time I'm trying to remem...Thanks guys.<br /><br />At this time I'm trying to remember all the good things about him. It's true that sons can be harsh judges, but it's also true that fathers can project their hopes and fears onto their sons.<br /><br />I'll be away in England for the next week but will resurface again soon after.<br /><br />JasonJason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-35282315003840446662012-07-09T07:10:04.420+02:002012-07-09T07:10:04.420+02:00Please accept my sympathy on the death of your fat...Please accept my sympathy on the death of your father. Losing a parent is a defining (or more accurately, redefining) event in life, and is made harder I think when the relationship has not been an easy or close one. I am glad that you can recognize some of the positive gifts he gave you.Mittynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-5461920086372461752012-07-09T01:40:34.647+02:002012-07-09T01:40:34.647+02:00Hi Jason,
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. ...Hi Jason,<br /><br />I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Even more sorry to hear about the difficulty you had with your father. Man, that is a hard read. <br /><br />I don't know what to say. I think I can say this for sure: I am sure your father felt a fierce joy when you were born and he held you in his arms for the first time. Likewise, I am sure there were nights when he lay awake worried about you because you had a fever. <br /><br />You are a parent. You know how all this feels. <br /><br />Your father may have had his weak points: he may have been hypocritical, or mean, or not the man you wanted him to be. But, we all have weak points and blind spots and we're all hypocrites, that's for sure. <br /><br />Except for the odd few, for the most part, we are all doing our best. He was doing his best, I am sure. And who knows what he was reacting to. People don't exist in a void and everyone has a history and parents before them. I suppose you know the Philip Larkin poem on this subject. <br /><br />And, he is the only father you'll ever have. Now, that's past tense. <br /><br />We all want our parents to be more than regular people. But, parents are just people. And father/son relationships are inherently fraught. Sons judge their fathers so harshly. But, they're just ordinary men and being a parent is damn hard work, as you know.<br /><br />I hope you can cherish the good memories of the man.<br /><br />Keep on being a great person and an inspiration. There are more people supporting you than you know.<br /><br />Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-49464856970172996692012-07-08T18:27:53.530+02:002012-07-08T18:27:53.530+02:00Its hard to post the usual condolences because you...Its hard to post the usual condolences because your father wound up living a long time (after nearly dying at the age of 19), the decline of his last years was such that death was a good thing, and he seems to have had a number of serious and never resolved problems such as not liking other people at all. But appreciate that you are still a little more alone now in the world than you were before. Plus you will be unusually busy now in arranging for the transition and taking stock.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-10819044453969919072012-07-08T16:02:43.648+02:002012-07-08T16:02:43.648+02:00Blessings, Jason. Thank you for this post.Blessings, Jason. Thank you for this post.William Hunter Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03659156353754825272noreply@blogger.com