MUSE, A NEAR MISS, AND BRAIN WI-FI
A Near Miss
After more than a year my wife and I were thrilled at the prospect of being able to resume travel, rebuilding friendships, and rediscovering what normal life is like again in general. We were actually scheduled to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at 10am this morning but woke up to the news that the CDC was pausing the J&J vaccine due to blood clots.
It doesn’t get any closer than that. I have a hunch the clotting issue is much more widespread than is being reported. So for now we’re on the search for an appointment for either Pfizer or Moderna but none are available anywhere in the Twin Cities.
While sorting through pages and pages of my poetry these past few weeks I’ve seen the same word peppered throughout the stanzas time and time again. MUSE. Often I’ve found myself in awe of whatever force dumps parts of and sometimes entire poems into my mind, seemingly like magic.
Through the previous three decades I’ve learned a little bit about cultivating the creative mood or “getting in the writing zone.” For me it feels like the creativity is being channeled from somewhere else and all I have to do is clear my mind to tap into it. The article from AEON below hints that we may be on the forefront of beginning to understand the science behind the phenomena.
The Best Article I’ve Read This Week
“Locating consciousness in the brain’s EM field might seem bizarre, but is it any more bizarre than believing that awareness resides in matter? Remember Albert Einstein’s equation, E=mc2. All it involves is moving from the matter-based right-hand side of the equation to energy located on the left-hand side. Both are physical, but whereas matter encodes information as discrete particles separated in space, energy information is encoded as overlapping fields in which information is bound up into single unified wholes. Locating the seat of consciousness in the brain’s EM field thereby solves the binding problem of understanding how information encoded in billions of distributed neurons is unified in our (EM field-based) conscious mind. It is a form of dualism, but a scientific dualism based on the difference between matter and energy, rather than matter and spirit. Awareness is then what this joined-up EM field information feels like from the inside. So, for example, the experience of hearing a door slam is what an EM field perturbation in the brain that correlates with a door slamming, and all of its memory neuron-encoded associations, feels like, from the inside.”
Click this link to read the entire article.
Ephemera Updates!
Manuscript
I appreciate everyone who's reached out to volunteer as a beta-reader for my next book, Ephemera! @preparedwombat, especially, has provided a lot of really valuable detailed notes that have been a huge help. I greatly appreciate the time you all have put in!
Bookcover
Ophelia is crafting the final cover images and in a few short weeks we’ll be sending everything to LuCe, the book designer.
This book has turned into something I’m very proud of and excited to launch. The poems contained in this collection reflect the past five years I’ve been blogging on the blockchain. I’ll be having the big reveal of the book cover soon and another exciting announcement, exclusively here on Hive.
Photos Of The Week
Spring is doing its thing, finally. Although it’s looking like a wet and chilly week Mother Nature is coaxing life back from its winter slumber. Following are some shots taken around our neighborhood during the past week.
All for now.
With Gratitude,
Eric Vance Walton
(Gifs sourced from Giphy.com)
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
Let’s Keep In Touch
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https://twitter.com/ericvancewalton/status/1381981624284246017
Hello there Eric, oh my, it's been a while. I've been really caught up in a lot, classes, break-ups, stress and well the cycle continous. Its great to see you're coming out with a book again and my! It shows how long i've not seen your contents lately. I mean I myself want to compile a collection of my books but then I haven't really found the time and energy. Good to also see you have been spending time and reading too. I mean its of course soul soothing. Amazing, seeing your shots, ahhh this time I didn't see amstel in any of the shots
It's been a couple of weeks I think! I'm sorry to hear you're feeling overwhelmed. I'm not blogging nearly as often as I used to and am refocusing my energy into getting this next book done. Amstel is still doing well despite not making it into the photos. Here he is begging for popcorn last night....
This thing with Covid vaccines really is a huge concern! We had a guest from Geneva last week who came to be with his dying Mom (cancer not covid) and he's involved in testing and researching Covid; he said he will not have the vaccine until they've done more in depth testing.
How frightening when you hear about the clotting!
I must make time to read that article, sounds fascinating!
Re Covid, we keep on taking our prophylaxis and are careful but tired of doing nothing, although Mom's ankle fracture held us back a bit, we will take a break a little later in the year again. Meanwhile, we explore little places close by.
We all desperately need to get back to living life not so!
The J&J one is especially concerning. We discovered last night that someone we know personally developed blood clots 2-3 weeks after his vaccination and then we woke up to the news from the CDC. It's crazy that they're willing to experiment on the population like this.
The article is pretty fascinating. I've believed for a while that the universe is like one big neural net that we have the ability to tap into. This is hinting to the fact this might be the case. A musician friend of mine commented on the article with this...."I can observe this when playing in person with other musicians, as opposed to tracking on a recording of them in a studio situation where they aren't there. In the former case, when we're live together, I know exactly where they're going in terms of rhythm, dynamics and phrasing without even looking at them. We're connected.
In the latter, I have to concentrate mentally on the sound coming into my ears through the head phones. It's clearly an artificial, very self-conscious, purely intellectual effort. The intuitive connection is conspicuously missing."
Keeping taking good care of yourself! It seems like way have a ways to go before we're out of the woods.
I hope you folks are staying safe over there. More crazy stuff going on and the understandable reaction to it. You are right about Spring popping up. I have a feeling I am going to need to mow my lawn for the first time this year over the weekend. That sucks about the vaccine. I guess it is good they halted it before you got it, but not being able to get one of the others is not cool. I hope you figure something out.
Thanks, it's been relatively quiet in our area (for the time being). I just can't believe these instances keep happening. If something isn't done to address police brutality and the excessive use of force soon cities will burn, it's only a matter of time.
Ah, that first mowing of the yard! You guys are probably a little further ahead than us. We're now almost halfway through "fools spring" in the Upper Midwest. That's that early part of the season when it can be 85 or 10 degrees depending on the way the wind blows. Lol.
I can't believe we were only two hours from our appointment when the CDC announced the pause. My wife and I have been searching online all morning for another appointment for Pfizer or Moderna and there are absolutely none to be found. I've heard that you have to stay online and just keep trying. I feel like I'm trying to get front row seats to a Rolling Stones concert or something. They should just have a waiting list that you can sign up and be notified when an appointment is available but Minnesota isn't doing it that way.
Ah yeah, that is too bad. My wife and I were able to get our names on a couple of lists through the county health department and Meijer and stuff before we ended up getting it through our school. We wanted to make sure all of our bases were covered though. I expect we have at least one more accumulating snow in store before we are past this part.
My friend, I loved the photos that show the awakening of spring, everything is beautifully renewed. I hope that everything you wish for comes true, that you can get vaccinated in a timely manner and travel and that your muse continues to give you beautiful letters. Take care of yourselves. Greetings
Thank you! I haven't heard from you for a while, I hope you and your family are well!
My family and I are doing well, as far as possible in our country. Attending to many things at the same time, I have a little time left to stop by and post. I have silently thanked you for your appreciation of my publications and I was waiting for you to stop by. Today I finally could and it gave me joy to know that you are well and everything is going well. Again, thanks for being here. I hope to keep in frequent contact. A hug.
I’m glad to hear you’re hanging in there. I hope the challenges pass soon! Take care of yourselves.
An interesting post that makes you think. You already have a real spring. In spring you always want to move mountains :) The main desire.
That article was super interesting! It might explain where things like intuition come from. We had snow yesterday and today. April is hit or miss here in Minnesota. You can experience four seasons in one day. Lol.
hello dear friend @ericvancewalton good afternoon
I am very sorry about what has happened with vaccines, something similar is happening here with those that have been arriving, our situation is complicated, at this moment we are living with five different strains of the virus.
I am very happy for you for your book, I perceive in your words how excited you are for it.
I wish with all my heart that soon you can get the vaccine for you and your wife, and that everything goes back to the way it was before.
I take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful afternoon. enjoy it a lot
Thank you! My wife was able to find a vaccine appointment after I wrote this yesterday but since I'm just a few months shy of 50 I'm having a tougher time. I was wanting to get vaccinated before the 4th wave hit. I hope you and the family are having a great week!
Your post is reblogged and upvoted by me. It is a good post. Thank you @ericvancewalton
Good day... so sorry that you cant take your vaccine. I guess they will have to really have a review of J and J. Your best read of the week is really amazing although my brain can't get around it. I guess I will read about it later.
thank you for sharing
Thanks for reading! Have a good rest of the week.