Riding On Dragons

It has been a while since I did one of these “words that flame” posts because I have been in writing mode myself and don’t read much while in that space. But on a recent long airplane journey I did read Garth Stein’s The Art Of Racing In The Rain and marked passages that seem to speak to me–my words that flame.

A bit of explanation: the narrator is a golden retriever mix whose owner (Denny) drives race cars and is known for his ability to race in the rain. Race car driving is used in the book as a metaphor for living, particularly for living when it seems to be pouring and the track of life is slick.

In racing, they say that your car goes where your eyes go. The driver who cannot tear his eyes away from the wall as he spins out of control will meet that wall; the driver who looks down the track as he feels his tires break free will regain control of his vehicle. Your car goes where your eyes go. Simply another way of saying that which you manifest is before you.

…I don’t understand why people insist on pitting the concepts of evolution and creation against each other. Why can’t they see that spiritualism and science are one? That bodies evolve and souls evolve and the universe is a fluid place that marries them both in a wonderful package called a human being. What’s wrong with that idea?

I had always wanted to love Eve as Denny loved her, but I never had because I was afraid. She was my rain. She was my unpredictable element. She was my fear. But a racer should not be afraid of rain; a racer should embrace the rain. I, alone, could manifest a change in what was around me. By changing my mood, my energy, I allowed Eve to regard me differently. And while I cannot say that I am a master of my own destiny, I can say that I have experienced a glimpse of mastery, and I know what I have to work toward.

People, if you pay attention to them, change the direction of one another’s conversations constantly. Its like having a passenger in your car who suddenly grabs the steering wheel and turns you down a side street.

Who is Achilles without his tendon? Who is Samson without Delilah? Who is Oedipus without his club foot? Mute by design, I have been able to study the art of rhetoric unfettered by ego and self-interest, and so I know the answers to these questions. The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles–preferably of his own making–in order to triumph.

…racing in the rain is also about the mind. It is about owning one’s own body. About believing that the track is an extension of the car, and the rain is an extension of the track, and the sky is an extension of the rain. It is about believing that you are not you; you are everything. And everything is you.

________________________________
Thanks for reading. Leave a comment >>
Subscribe to Riding On Dragons by Email

Bookmark and share this page:

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl Google

Hugg Jamespot Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo LinkedIn LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb

Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Worlds Movies Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »

Tags: Perception, Shifting Energy, Writing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 4:46 pm by Dick Richards and is filed under Life Happens, Words That Flame. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.