Delight Springs

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

It is happening

That was a nice Fall Break, with plenty of sunshine and quality time out in it. A memorable Southern Festival of Books with Older Daughter. A merciless series of serenades from Younger Daughter: "Go Cubs Go..."

Her sister says "gross," of that Cubs' victory song, but it's actually kinda sweet. And thanks to my partisan gloating after the first and only Cards win in Game 1, I deserved it. Anyway, it seems to be the Cards' destiny to break everybody's curses.

So, it's a good day to think in CoPhi about a philosopher who found his bliss in contemplating the rational necessity of all that is. Was that Cubbies fan with the "IT IS HAPPENING" sign a Spinozist?

Not anymore, probably. The whole point of passionate crowd fandom is somehow to defy what William Carlos Williams called its delightful "spirit of uselessness" and try to help the team. The point of Spinozism, to the contrary, is to reconcile oneself to the inevitable and happily accept it.

Image result for spinoza quotes on god

Today, mourning the Cards - the team of my youthful indoctrination - I'm a Spinozist. Tomorrow, though, in rank defiance of Younger Daughter's insistence that I'm not allowed to, and of Einstein's own Spinozism, I'll add my slim support to the Cubs' cause. I'll do what little I can to disrupt the orderly harmony of what exists and boost the fates and actions of those talented young human beings from the North Side. It ultimately, cosmically doesn't really matter who wins a game. It does matter that we can care.

There's no crying in baseball, and there's no acceptance of metaphysical necessity either. It is happening.

Podcast
5:40/6:55, 48/78

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