I've been reading this book called the 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene. I mean, if it's good enough for 50 Cent, it's good enough for me. I have always had a strange relationship to power and men & women of power. I usually recoil from the Strong Arm Types. I have a deep resistance to authority. And I guess this may have meant that I've had a somewhat estranged relationship to my own power. Often-times, I have felt completely powerless in the world. Most of my efforts have been in the creative realm, and it's there that I feel I have some mojo, but when it comes to the world of men and women (boys and girls), and actualizing myself in the world, I sometimes "have no hand." I'm no Machiavelli. The book tells us that the world really is a Zero Sum Game, and in order to get ahead you must always be looking for advantage, everyone is on the make, and ultimately, everyone (I mean everyone) is your enemy.
It's not exactly the philosophy I've grown up with and applied to my own life, but, well, if you look around you, there might be a little truth in the Machiavellian world view. Of the 48 laws, I've basically broken each and every one of them. In some ways, I think the book is ridiculous (could this be my own powerlessness talking?), but it's also beautifully written and laid out. There are many great stories from world history; from the great Chinese dynasties, through various kings and queens, to Emperors and Presidents and Prime Ministers and warriors and diplomats to a wide-ranging cast of charlatans and hustlers. Quite the human thing, don't cha know?
Anyway, I've been living in my own little world of power games and relentless back-stabbing, and most of the wounds that have been meted out have been meted out to me. Some of course, have been self-inflicted. I have transgressed the laws of power and well, if you break each and every one, don't come to the door, hat in hand, looking for any sympathy from the wolf pack. So, as I lick my wounds, I wade through the book, I note how I have overstepped here, talked too much there, exposed myself unnecessarily here, etc. It's all kind of humbling and well, maybe I will learn something and take my first tentative steps back into the big boxing ring of life with a new set of gloves.
So, I read, and try fit some of this info into my noggin. And the stories well, they are circular, they go round and round, it's the human game, it just keeps going and repeating, and well, do we ever learn anything? We spin around just like the little planet we are riding, and well, there's really only one Ghandi, one 50 Cent, and maybe I can take a little from both and just kind of skate without getting hurt too badly?!