The Goldilocks Paradox

To mock free will is to mock love!

It can be made no clearer:

Turn away!—away!—from the mirror

And look inside—beyond—above!

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The Goldilocks Paradox:

We try to find just-right

Through unjust means

And invalidate the end

Where we abdicate the light—

The eternal fight!—

To struggle forth from the dark

And make our own destiny

With our very own hands—

The flint and steel that strike the spark!

Such is our plight—

To live out our days

Making mistakes, mending our ways,

A serpentine path from earth to so(u)l,

A heroic attempt to complete the (w)hole—

Which only the fool would dare

For only a fool would really care…

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…and so a fool I am

—(I am that I am)—

And a fool I shall remain,

Wanting neither relief nor pain

But accepting it all the same,

Knowing that I will—

Beyond the windowsill!

—Beyond All Thresholds!—

To return eternally and refresh

The stardust-scarred flesh whence I came.

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"Like Goldilocks, the development of intelligent life requires that planetary temperatures be "just right'". -Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design

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When I penned this poem, I had no idea that the concept of Goldilocks was commonly used to describe the middle way in many scientific disciplines. I admit that this was revealed to me through a quick Wikipedia search. As often happens though, the idea which sparked it for me was similar to its far-reaching cultural significance.

There is a narrow path between death and the devil; between fight and flight; between stagnation and resignation; between proper action in a futile situation and improper action in a situation where the reservation of energy would have been best; between a failed attempt and no attempt; this is the path of the pure Artist, an inner alchemy; a little bit of this, a little bit of that; on the one hand, on the other hand; strike the balance, stir the cauldron, bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, get the fuck out and do it on the double!

To those immersed in the combobulations of daily life, the discombobulations of the artist must seem madness! But something is happening in a place beyond what we directly sense, like ultraviolet light, which nevertheless has an effect which affects.

A child might push down a wall that’s ready to crumble and fall, but it takes a (wo)man with a plan to undermine its integrity in the first place. I have written elsewhere about the pseudoblessings conferred by unseen actors on those who like to believe in their own illusory feeling of power.

Let them! They’ll come in time to understand the true meaning of strength. It’s a quiet song, and a paradox indeed, that leads Goldilocks to her “just right”.

Depending on which version of the old tale we encounter, the bears are charitable, or just confused as Goldilocks beats a retreat.

What did she learn?

More than she would have if she’d failed to survive her flippant disregard for other people’s property. Fate has a funny way of teaching us in spite of our attempts not to learn, or at least so it seems to this old fool…