The myth is the public dream and the dream is the private myth. If your private myth, your dream, happens to coincide with that of
“Rebellious leaves going out in a blaze of glory, setting trees aflame in riotous color. Reluctant surrender to rumors of coming winter.” ~John Mark Green
I too have suffered from despair since childhood. It began at the age of 11 when my father died. To this day there are many occasions in my daily life when I cannot get excited about something because I know it will not last and my pleasure will not last and I will die and nobody will care and nothing I have done will make any difference, and so what?
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15 Responses
Thank you for “unpacking” this cartoon, Jean. I’ve got some fun old images now to work with on my inner quest to take care of my Sweet Pea, strengthen Popeye in the face of Bluto and be spiritually nurtured by Olive Oyl.
Me thinks I’ll eat some some spinach for awhile with olive oil on it!
Hi Julie, I got a kick out of your charming response. Thanks for this morning’s chuckles! Love, Jeanie
Good job. Popeye has always been a favorite of mine. =-)
Hi, and thanks. His plucky perseverance could be a model for us all! Love, Jeanie
You know that I love the way you weave stories, fairy tales and the like into meaning for our lives.
Hi Que,
Thank you. Your lovely comment gives me the chance to say to those not familiar with this way of thinking that finding the underlying meaning in the symbols around you is called living symbolically. It makes life so much more interesting and personally relevant than restricting ourselves to hard scientific facts alone. Life is so much more beautiful and mysterious than that!! (I forsee a future blog post on this topic….)
But, of course, you of all people already know this. Your home and exquisite art are testaments to the mystery and beauty of life.
Much love and gratitude to you,
Jeanie
I love this! Simple and yet deep! I truly get this one.
Hi Donna, Thanks so much for letting me know you loved this one! It makes me happy! Love, Jeanie
While doing some research on Popeye’s famous quote, I found your blog to be most insightful. I also read the link I shared below. Apparently, someone else found your words to be “inspiring” too.
Thought this link might be of interest to you. My best to you!!
Hi Stephanie,
Thank you for letting me know you found my post useful! I love this one. I followed the link you provided and found the person you were referring to who copied four paragraphs and used it as the bulk of his own post without crediting me for it. I’ve written a letter to him in private. I don’t want to publicly shame him in public, so I’ve erased the link, but I hope my letter will raise his self-awareness and possibly check any future tendencies to keep doing this! With much appreciation, Jeanie
Your handling of this shows truly, you are a person of grace, integrity, and class!
It’s easy to write about doing the right thing. Putting them into practice are qualities sometimes lost.
But we know you are: “strong to the finich. Cause I eats me spinach!”
Thank you for not only an insightful message, the powerful lesson too!! You have a new fan! I love who you “YAM!”
And, I was pleased to see, he did do an update!
Thank you very much, Stephanie. I ‘m glad to know that. He wrote me back immediately and apologized. I respect him for that.
I found myself here after a baffling dream where I was the lead in a play about Olive Oyl! I’ve never really given Popeye or any of the characters much thought so to have such a vivid and spontaneous dream was enough to make me go searching for meaning behind it. And the fact that Olive Oyl was the star of the plot, not Popeye, was just doubly confusing. Im going to have to ponder the archetypes you’ve put forth here and figure out what my subconscious is trying to tell me haha.
Hi San, how wise you were to take this dream seriously and look for some potential meaning. That’s exactly what dreams are for: to wake us up to unconscious inner situations that influence us in our outer lives. My desire to be more self-aware is why I record and work on my dreams. Thanks for visiting my site. I hope your explorations bring you some helpful insights! Best wishes on your inner journey! Jeanie
P.S. How interesting that you are the “lead” in a play. My book, Dream Theatres of the Soul is about viewing dreams as dramas (movies, stories, plays) and figuring out who the characters are. As the lead, you’re the star of this play. It’s all about you. All dreams are about the dreamer whose inner adventures they depict.