I’m writing this as the injections wear off after a big tooth extracted from my head, the third in only a few weeks. It puts you in a sober frame of mind, losing parts… Last post I was going to the WOW! gathering to discuss with others the wisdoms we have, might have and should have as we go on into 2012 and beyond. I guess the biggest thing that happened for me there was to be asked what am i doing here (on planet Earth)? Like,
‘Name?’
‘Peter Harris aka Wizard of Eutopia, i guess…’
‘You guess?’
‘OK, i want to be a real wizard and show the way, teach others to be wizards, maybe start a wizard school (or school of philosophy or wisdom school)…’
‘Maybe?’
‘Ok, I’ll go away and think about it, I guess.’
‘Do or do not.’
That is the inner conversation, paraphrased, which happened as the WOW ended, and partly outer, as i discussed with a young, spiritually wired (in a good way!) man from the Chek Republic. Name of Adam…
I went away, continued to think, and the third tooth continued to throb, worse and worse until dentist said it had to go. Meanwhile i had read about the western diet and teeth and decided to put myself on a ‘wizard diet’ – my own take on the best pre-modern diet – no caffeine for a start. !@#%^$?? The tooth pain made the withdrawal from caffeine almost painless, somehow, and i also went off bread. The ‘Paleolithic diet’ is the general idea. Eating what we evolved eating, cutting out the processed pure white and deadly things… We really are surrounded by our addictions and follies, and the cost of having them. Ouch, ouch ouch. The injections have totally worn off and the whole cheek and jaw feels like it had been jabbed about four times, cut open, a tooth ripped out, and then sewn up again. Which is about what did happen… Reality can bite hard! What I hate is how addictions – personal and national – can feel Ok, feel OK, and then wham, they’re NOT OK. Like the addiction to debt. Or sugar. Karma, karma, all around.
Back to the ‘What am i here for?’ question. The way to kick an addiction i reckon is to answer that question fair and square, and act on your answer, by BEING it. When you really have a mission, a Mainspring, and an IDENTITY, it isnt so hard to make the sacrifices needed. But boy, the sacrifices do come up! The teeth synchronistically coming to a head at the same time as my vocational do-or-do-not crisis, the pain of them, is no accident. And when the pain clears? Will i go on and fulfill the vision? Watch this space…
Meanwhile, what is YOUR purpose in coming here? What addictions (personal or national) cushion you from actually being that? In the end, are they worth the cushioning they provided? (hint: they aren’t, if only because they become unsustainable just when you need them the most). Better just go be the Wizard… of YOUR life. 🙂 Take the blue pill. (or was it the red one?) See you on the other side 🙂
PS: i am still carving the tree of Life staff, nearly done. And the Wheel of Wisdom likewise – getting there. Then there will be a symbolic basis for the school. Interested? Dare to be involved? Let me know.
Wizard Gifts 
Why give up coffee Peter? Because Paleolithians didnt have it? Remember they probably ate a very restricted diet – the few edible plants in their vicinity, local fruit when in season, occasional meat I suppose – I dont really know but it couldnt have been naywhere near as divers and as potentially nutritious and enjoyable as whats available to you right now. And as a result “we” are MUCH healthier and have MUCH BETTER teeth than they ever had and we live MUCH longer..
And another thing – please discuss the idea that even though it sounds like a real question, it might be nonsense to ask why am I here? This is what I mean – heres a sentence that sounds like a question but is it really? ” What colour is a thought?”
Hey Dave – didnt see the comment here, been ‘busy’ and it nearly escaped my net. Now, as for teeth and natives, it is easy for us to say ‘we are healthier’ but take teeth, and look at one present day example – well it was in the 60s and we were in Papua. Dad remembers his amazement still on finding that all of the class he taught there had PERFECT teeth – except one boy who had come from port moresby and eaten western junk food. So, there IS a case that ancient diets (if adequate and not starvation diet due to the only too common war or drought etc, which need to be bracketed for the present purpose) were way better for teeth. Sure, we can use modern tech to save or rotting teeth, but thats hardly ideal!
re coffee – well, i know, addiction is a human problem – again, in papua, there was the nasty beteljuice, and yes that made their teeth and gums very bad, those who partook. So, caffeine does have an effect on stuff, and i wanted to get back to base, see what effect it had. I still have a nice decaf, which of course isn’t very paleolithic:). and i have slipped a few times since the antibiotics healed my sore cavities, and had a ‘real’ coffee. in fact as rae is writing yet another essay at the last minute, i fed her one and partook too. so these words are caffeine-fuelled… Mea culpa. But I have at least ceased and desisted utterly in the habit of adding SUGAR… 🙂
Re the question of WHY? being maybe meaningless – that deserves a whole post.
What a crazy thing to be discussing – Teeth! But yes in regard to your fathers experience I concur, it was the same in Ethiopia, I couldnt help noticing what perfect teeth our women had – but my patients and your fathers pupils were all YOUNG! Go look at the teeth of the old poeople!
And as for you “partaking” of real coffee – dont worry I wont tell anyone!