A bewildering and stupendous dream

 


A bewildering and stupendous dream

     Greg adopted this phrase to describe the wonders of the life he was priveleged to live. The full quote is from the great writer John Cheever “Fiction is art and art is the triumph over chaos… to celebrate a world that lies spread out around us like a bewildering and stupendous dream” The point for us was that art, especially the written word was the medicine that cured us from the sick society we had to see in our experiences in a big city. Art showed the beauty of life and the possibility of noble endeavors by we humans. The bewidlering and stupendous dream could include having dinner with friends, sitting in the stands at a ballgame, watching your children enjoying themselves, feeling the warmth of someone who loved you or just relaxing in front of an engaging program on TV. The dream for Greg included music, the theater, recreational drugs, the freedom of an automotive trip, the sight of the mighty Pacific ocean or an ice cold beer on a warm Summer's day. Through his enjoyment of art he experienced triumph over chaos.  For the most part everyday life never got him down and he was able to pluck from the wreckage of tough times pieces of joy. He never pouted, he never sulked, he would not take bad times out on people around him. He recognized genius and appreciated talent but could sniff out a phony in seconds. The reason the man was so easy to get along with is he did not judge harshly with his intimates. When you vented to him about your drama he listened and you could see his lips moving in curses for those who wronged you.  In the larger world he heaped abuse on fools and those who bluffed their way through the stupendous dream. I was never able to do these things and was subject to much time-wasting worry, fussing and self-approbation but I was able to catch a life-line tossed to me by my old pal who kept me afloat in this rushing current of a dream sometimes more bewildering than stupendous.


  


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