Isn\u2019t it the case that the only times we feel incandescently alive is when things go very, very right or very, very wrong.\u00a0 At other times, even when things are going well, we\u2019re mostly running on autopilot.\u00a0 Most of our brain is asleep or distracted by all the minutia of modern life; the internet, the office gossip, all the gnawing worries we have about family problems, money, politics, world affairs and health.<\/p>\n
But on those days when we meet a stunning woman or get hit by a car or win the lottery or get arrested by the cops our brains are lit up like the Fourth of July.\u00a0 Every fiber of your being is jazzed.\u00a0 Even when you\u2019re just thinking to yourself, the voice of your own thoughts is a roar in your head.\u00a0 You feel almost painfully alive.<\/p>\n
Think about what it must be like to be a condemned man on the day of his execution.\u00a0 Adrenalin is coursing through his veins and the sound of his blood pumping is pounding in his ears.\u00a0 His muscles are tensed for flight but there\u2019s no way out.\u00a0 Or think about one of those ancient armies that was in pitched battle when suddenly the enemy line breaks and turns to flee the ground in a rout.\u00a0 Think of the sense of triumph and relief that death has been avoided and instead the spoils of victory were imminent.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve saved your native land from rape and plunder by an army of marauders.<\/p>\n
When we\u2019re living our normal lives routine and a sense of moderation is the rule.\u00a0 Don\u2019t eat too much, don\u2019t drink too much, don\u2019t stay up too late, don\u2019t get too excited.\u00a0 Don\u2019t live too much<\/strong>.\u00a0 I guess we don\u2019t want to use up whatever we have left until the end.\u00a0 And that is the sensible way to do things.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not very Homeric.\u00a0 If you read Homer or even Tolkien you hear about the joy of battle or the battle frenzy.\u00a0 And I think it\u2019s this same idea.\u00a0 It\u2019s a heightened sense of existence.\u00a0 It\u2019s an adrenalin rush.\u00a0 In our modern world only soldiers and police and firemen are likely to experience this sense of heightened existence from contact with existential risk.\u00a0 Maybe add prizefighters and athletes at the very peak of performance.<\/p>\n What about the rest of us?\u00a0 As I said, when the day is very, very bad or very, very good.\u00a0 I guess a lot of people might have had some sense of this on September 11th<\/sup> 2001, especially if they knew someone who worked in the Towers.\u00a0 I did and it was terrifying until I knew that they were safe.\u00a0 Maybe you can count a sort of minor rush from something like a favorite underdog sports team winning a championship or maybe Trump winning the presidency in 2016.\u00a0 But these are of course just tinges of exultation.<\/p>\n But the world is becoming a more dangerous and uncertain place.\u00a0 It\u2019s part of the fundamental change of America that Barack Obama initiated.\u00a0 And as it becomes more dangerous, we will experience a heightened sense of being alive.\u00a0 We will live in interesting times.\u00a0 And we will by default become more interesting ourselves.\u00a0 And as risk becomes more and more a basic part of our lives, taking bigger risks will become less \u201cunthinkable.\u201d\u00a0 And then change will come from those who used to be oh so careful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Isn\u2019t it the case that the only times we feel incandescently alive is when things go very, very right or very, very wrong.\u00a0 At other<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[532,3863],"class_list":["post-30325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","tag-leftist-violence","tag-violence"],"yoast_head":"\n