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Jo posted on May 27, 2010 20:48
It's not the warmth of the fire, nor Shivas' presence that warmed my spirit when I began this blog. It was numerous conversations which have taken place over the last six years. Each made me wonder why/how a book could affect so many.
Now... I have an answer. Its because we all have a song to sing.
I'm not going to break apart the dinner conversation, nor the different characters at this time. I will point you to a great article by Steven Pressfield called Shivas & Socrates. He does the job much better than I ever could.
What I will do, is share with you the story from this non-golfers point of view. I will share with you the things that I found inspiring and perhaps, we'll find a connection to each other... through our connection to Golf in the Kingdom.
Singing the Praises of Golf
Our story brings us back to Liston as he lights the fire in the clubhouse. Whisky in hand, golf enthusiasists come and go as Michael lazes in the afterglow of (what I'm told was) a spectactular round.
Now, I've not experienced the sweet ecstacy of gently falling back to earth and into consciousness from a round of golf. But I have floated through moments of great joy and tragic sadness... only to disect myself & my feelings upon re-entry into life's ever changing cosmos. Questions and uncertainities flooding the mind, and yet still being in shock or maybe its awe of what transpired. We want to cling to that time, never again to allow gravity to pull us back to earth.
Like honeysuckle of the mind, I believe Shivas had learned to linger in those moments, to draw out and savor each sweet drop and did so as moonlight cascaded down upon him. How lucky? How amazing? How inconsiderate not to teach us all?!?!
But perhaps, that was his lessons to his pupils... and to us.
Oh, Mr. Murphy can turn a phrase!
"Oor brain is a distillery, pumpin' strange whiskys into the bloodstream to produce a permanent intoxication. Ye've got to feed the right things to the distillery, or ye get some bad green whisky." ~Julian
In golf, and in life, we find those things that cause a change in our core. Love, laughter, hope, joy.... emotions created by things and especially those around us. I discovered upon the death of my two best friends in 2009, that I have little time, energy and/or patience for people/things that do not bring positive energy into my life. We pollute our bloodstream with negativity and then wonder why we aren't happy and prosperous.
I get you, Jullian... and agree. No bad green whisky for me!
Agatha, bless your little heart for having to deal with such men in your life! I understand, girlie, having recently spent the day with all of Mr. McNaughton's personalities at Stonebrae. It's an experience like none other. The joyful cries of victory, the mournful sighs of defeat, and the agony of being so close... yet so far away (from the pin) echoed around the wonderous California countryside.
It really was a day for...
"smellin' the heather and cut grass and walkin' fast across the countryside and feeli' the wind and watchin' the sun go down and seein' yer friends hit good shots and hittin' some yerself. It's love and it's feelin' the splendor o' this good world." ~Agatha
Fascination Has a Gravity of Its Own
Ah, my dear Shivas... our fascination with you only enhances the game. I like you so much better now with all your "philosophizen" than I did over a week ago.
"Tis slow enough to concentrate the mind and complex enough to require our many parts." ~Shivas Irons
Fascination and connection... of all our parts. Coming together in perfect alignment...with our world and those in it. To join and be aware of subtle energies that change and evolve continually.
To be rewarded with those little moments when we bring them all together... mind, body, feelings, fantasies.... bringing them to reality and being able to acknowledge them in that moment. To celebrate the beauty created.... wow!
Each of Us Has a Different Song to Sing... in Praise of the Game
I spoke in my last blog about not connecting to Golf in the Kingdom the way most of you have. And though I'm still not so moved that I'll probably ever reread this book, I do have a song to sing in praise of the game of golf.
I sing for the majesty of the rough, the fairways and the greens... It's beauty reminds me of an inner peace that only being surrounded by March lillies in the field of my family farm in Kentucky can give.
I sing for friendship.... fleeting in the setting sun of an afternoon on the course (of life) and longlasting... forever lodging in the heart and soul.
I sing for connection & fascination... to a person, a place, or a thing. For those things in life that can bring us to inspiritational moments of awe and which will help us to reach for our dreams.
I sing for the laughter of our children... for a summer golf camp that opens doors for kids to be kids, without the worries of the future or the reality of the past for that week of time. For learning, for gaining skills, for a future that is brighter because for they will leave with positive memories of growth & achievement in something that will never let them down. For a game that will nurture them, a game they can turn to that will never pollute their system... I sing.
I sing.... loudly, so that maybe someone out there will hear my message. Boldly, so that they will know I'm determined and sure. Perhaps a bit offkey, but always with joy and the promise of what will be.
I will not stop singing, though others may not like my song. Its lyrics are pure, its melody heartwenching and sweet.
Now I must ask you, my dear friends....
What is your song? Why do you sing?
About this Blog
My name is Jo Crisp and I have worked for the Society for almost 6 years. I'm not a golfer and do not plan to become one. This blog is my journey into the Kingdom.
I can promise I will be shooting straight from the hip with this blog.
Please remember, this blog reflects my opinion and is not intended to be a reflection of the beliefs, thoughts or opinions of the Society.
I encourage you to use the RSS Feed so that you can be automatically updated when I publish a new blog. You can do this by clicking here and selecting the delivery method you'd prefer.
Its also very quick for me to post quips and thoughts to the Society's Facebook page. I will preface those posts with Jo's GITK Challenge. (You do not need a Facebook account to view posts, only to make comments.)
I really appreciate your support and I will try to answer emails and comments in a timely matter!
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Friday, May 28, 2010 2:45 PM
Wow Jo. This is moving stuff - and more proof that you are right where you're supposed to be. :) The words in this blog post were like lyrics of their own...this blog was its own song. Thanks for sharing Jo. -Rob
Saturday, May 29, 2010 9:45 AM
Well put, Jo. Or should I say nice shot! :) Your perspective as a non-golfer is refreshing and you do seem to be catching the spirit of the book. It might not move you as it would a golfer, but it clearly has already moved you. I sing for the solitary rounds of golf in the early morning that I love so much. It brings me a little closer to the outdoor world I cherish and brings me much closer to my true inner self. Then I am in much better shape (physically and mentally) to sing for my wife and daughters ... and hope we can somehow figure out how to leave some form of natural world for them to pass on to their children ... Peace ...
Thursday, June 10, 2010 6:18 PM
Joe, Yes Steven Pressfield’s article “Shivas and Socrates” is very revealing. MM has managed to secrete many of the themes in Plato’s “The Symposium” into this chapter and no doubt had a lot of fun doing so. I am not erudite enough to have picked up on it in the first instance but treasure the associations when made apparent. Good and clever writing. The idea that we can now describe my not infrequent Gentlemen’s Evenings, where The Ambanecta flows and engenders philosophical outpourings, as a Symposium is delightful relief. Philosophical rantings always seem to make eminently good sense within the haze of smoky malt whisky but who remembers the theses propounded the next day! Things that puzzle me about this motley crew that spends the evening getting uproariously drunk. Where did Shivas skive off to for an hour or so between leaving the clubhouse and arriving at the McNaughtons? Baying at the moon on a window shelf? Gone to grass? Why was this American whippersnapper, MM, noticing the “great figure” of Agatha McNaughton (on two occasions mind you!!)? I had assumed golf and philosophy had captivated him. Adam and Eve, token environmentalists, with a surname Greene? Was their standing on chairs synonomous with getting up on a soap-box? Adam’s crazy ideas about our atavistic love of the ball flight, the mystery of the hole. I loved these ideas though. He’s proposing a Theory of Everything TOE. Long live Stephen Hawkings - how did MM know about Stephen Hawkings? Is M.M stringing us along? The yoga of the supermind - my mind boggles. This is great fun even though I do not understand it and take it with a large pinch of salt!! Poor, old Peter McNaughton. “Gowf.....makin’ a man naked”? Peter certainly reveals himself. Driven to distraction by the “gemme” he ends up with multiple personalities. Peter even manages to bring back a memory in M.M.’s past of ducking under a thrown golf club. Is this an allusion to Tommy Bolt or Tiger Woods? If Tiger Woods how did M.M. know of this proclivity; Tiger Woods wasn’t born back then! Julian the dark doctor having a crack at the assembled company. We’re doomed according to the good doctor. Nobody is spared bar good old Agatha! Shivas himself gets canned for wandering around at all hours and possibly being thought of as perverted! His good mate Evan, whose pretty erratic himself, ribs Shivas about his wooing (or lack thereof) of the lassies - or possibly his eloping with the fair Agatha. Most importantly Seamus MacDuff is mentioned for the first time as, to some, the local madman but to others a saviour and the essence of sanity. Some might describe this motley crew as deranged and demented and others, I know, that this very description fits many a golf foursome! My input if I had been attending this supper would be to ship a half-set of golf clubs instead of every piece of fire-arms that does get shipped around the world. This would keep hundreds of thousands of men (mainly) pre-occupied in a far more acceptable manner than they are just now. Much better for the economy and general health! Secret men’s business. Absolutely. However I must draw the line at describing a good marriage by using analogies from the golfing sphere. M.M. could get us into lots of hot water, a distinct hazard, with this philosophical musing. I know I would get a swift clip around the ear from my beloved if that was the extent of my whispering sweet nothings in her ear. The very early morning approach to a golf round makes my heart sing. The ritual, verging on religious, allows me to reflect how lucky and privileged I am to be walking in soft glimmering light with dew under my cleats towards the first tee. Aye yours, Colin
Sunday, June 13, 2010 2:00 AM
Joe, I revisited this chapter so that I could look a bit more closely at the fun and joy that Michael Murphy has visited upon us. I must admit the more I read the book the more I take it with a great pinch of salt. Nonetheless it is the ONLY golf story ( as opposed to essays etc.) which I wholeheartedly recommend to golfers of all persuasion. In the chapter “Singing the praises of Golf” the segment I most enjoyed was that where Shivas and Evan Tyree unburden themselves. As Murphy’s parcel of rogues sing the praises of golf one inebriated evening Seamus Macduff, who has possibly been sighted by M.M.earlier in the day, gets officially introduced to us as “the man who invented the game so long ago”. A sage working on “theories o’ the wardle” and studying “gravity”. Shivas describes the “fascination” of the game freeing up one’s mind, allowing us to attack things in different ways, whilst “rools’ must still prevail. He mentions in passing the perennial problem that the great majority of golfers suffer from. Namely no sooner does one hit upon the secret of success in the golf swing than it escapes that same golfer in the time it takes to approach the next shot. “Forgettin’ and rememberin’, losin’ and findin’” aptly describes the relearning process that every mediocre player goes through all the time from my experience!. He delivers a wee homily about how one’s character can grow and develop handsomely as golfing skills and temperament are brought under control. How the game itself can be an excellent teacher and provide us with insights to our own selves. “As you grow in gowf, ye come to see the things ye’ learn there in every other place” Shivas wraps up his contribution with an aphorism suggesting that your life, your works and your loves will all be enhanced provided “....you play the game with all your heart”. The thundering arrival of Evan Tyree breaks the spell that has descended upon the group and allows us to be given insights into Shivas’ character. Sobriety (at times) and incorruptibility in the face of great temptation. Legendary status and equanimity under duress. Evan gives Shivas’ teachings a distinctly non-secular bent whereby there are “graces” in the game, the game itself “a very prayer”, there is the “religion o’ the game”, “ a holy round”, even a holy man, contemplation and meditation. Shivas is the high priest when it comes to passing on the message! Ah yes M.M. recognises very clearly that “the gowf” is a religion to ever so many of its practitioners. There is heaven, purgatory and hell in most every round partaken of. The golfing tragic is in limbo between rounds. I vaguely remember John Updike once described an instance on the first tee where a member of his foursome, having driven poorly, declared in a sombre manner that after all “he had come to do penance”. The rituals, the dressing up for golf outings (the only time I worry about an ironed shirt!), the polishing of the golf shoes all are done religiously in my wee golfing world. And I had the temerity to disparage Peter McNaughton and his multiple golfing characters!
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