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ARTICLE
Meteorology of the Mind
by John Michael Cummings
In the last 72 hours, the atmosphere over the world's continents has snowed, sleeted, warmed, rained, gusted,
thundered, struck lightning, cleared, clouded again, calmed again, stormed again, become dry again, become wet
again, and, finally, flurried. From Calcutta to Calgary, any season is, well, less than seasonable. Anyplace, anytime,
the atmospheric conditions of one season often occur or appear unexpectedly or unnaturally in another season. No
longer do certain times of the year arrive in their good and proper time.
More than ever, people, too, are bizarrely variable and volatile. In the last 72 hours, any one person from here to there
has sulked, insulted, cried, flailed, raged, struck, quieted, brooded again, relaxed again, fumed again, become
pleasant again, wept again, and, finally, mused. By the minute, most anyone turns unreasonable, paranoid,
incoherent, silly, ridiculous, and stupid. As the state of the atmosphere has become wildly changeable and random,
so the state of the typical mind has grown dangerously inconsistent and irrational.
If lunacy really fluctuates during phases of the moon, then moods must go haywire during particular kinds of weather.
Does rising barometric pressure, for example, actually cause funk? The inconclusive, amateurish Scientologists
explain the emotional and mental upset of modern humankind by indicating what they call the "reactive mind," when
intellectual potentiality is disturbed by stress. Surrounded by bedlam in America, Billy Graham and entourage
peacefully assemble in Minneapolis to await the Second Coming. Nationwide, Republicans and Democrats fault each
other for disagreeable socio-economic conditions. Educators blame lawyers and realtors for profiteering.
Conservatives impugn Hollywood for overt immorality. Women now accuse men of forcing equality. Blacks, now more
than ever, condemn whites for genocidal racism, although Jews now charge blacks with the same. Rednecks curse
fags as freaks. Who is at fault?
Any college sociology course would yield the following working hypothesis: As more and more people are forming into
distinct entities, occurring profoundly is a sociological dissociation, a disunion of the people. That is also to say, if the
so-called collective unconscious can exist, then it can also dissociate, and if this genetic part of the unconscious
occurring in all members of the human race can disintegrate, then anyone or everyone can go mad. Make sense?
The point is, historically, in this society, even among a broad grouping of people, there prevailed a distinguishing
character of sameness. Today, just the opposite, people have become unfriendly, uncooperative, and especially
divisive. Why?
Simply put, they have individuated – or, to express it essayistically – they have seceded from the humble collective to
pursue distinction and grandeur until ruling with nearly unlimited authority, first to prove themselves superior to their
cruel childhood friends and disloyal ex-spouses, then merely to gratify their whims. "Life is a Sport," reads a Nike
slogan. "Play hard." Because moderns are essentially competing with one another in all respects of life, from
derbying to work to politicking in church, they are also rivalling against one another: A majority is striving for what only a
minority can possess. Competitive advantage is the position! the profit! and the prize! This sport called life, in this so-
called civilization, is ironically barbaric.
The zealous Scientologists, by speciously theorizing about the reactive mind, have reasoned in a reverse way. All that
hype about Dianetics, a hefty book of deceptive revelations by a science fiction writer, of all people, amounts to a false
look of truth. Even if society has become inherently unpredictable, the intrinsic, individual mind remains free from
disorder, however perplexing and troublesome situations in the outside world have grown. The real problem is,
environmental stimuli, as numberless and matchless as snowflakes falling on half the world, so induces and
provokes and motivates the average person that his or her sensory organs inevitably become overexcited, and in this
respect, even the typical person, to the extent of being unable to control opinions, beliefs, and practices, turns mildly
schizophrenic.
Today, undeniably, influences are fantastically limitless – life is a tumble and a blur. Yet no person is suited to such
circumstances; no one fits an environment of confused, hastened people. Yet everyone still proceeds rapidly forward
in time, living at a higher speed than normal until experiencing a violent agitation of mind and feelings – a shuddering,
like that of an old Buick unsafely highballing. The other problem is, while modern life fast-forwards, social activities,
like commercials in a movie, are bypassed. Narrowness of objective, it seems, has streamlined the fullness of life.
Today, neither government nor economy collectively and successfully controls any society. Quite the contrary, millions
of people, frantic with unhealthy, vindictive desires to achieve greatness, trample one another. Personal advancement
has minimized the significance of duty and conscience. All the while, cities environ scenes of uproar and confusion,
and offices and houses magnify spectacles of violent outbursts. Humanity is disorganized, and society is involuntary.
And now the Gods are angry, too.
Biography
John Michael Cummings's essays and short stories have appeared in Utne Reader, North American Review, and The
Iowa Review. He has fiction forthcoming in The Chattahoochee Review and The Kenyon Review. His novel excerpts
have recently appeared in Louisiana Literature, Rosebud, and North Dakota Quarterly. In addition, he recently
received representation by The Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc. for his first novel.
Meteorology of the Mind
by John Michael Cummings
In the last 72 hours, the atmosphere over the world's continents has snowed, sleeted, warmed, rained, gusted,
thundered, struck lightning, cleared, clouded again, calmed again, stormed again, become dry again, become wet
again, and, finally, flurried. From Calcutta to Calgary, any season is, well, less than seasonable. Anyplace, anytime,
the atmospheric conditions of one season often occur or appear unexpectedly or unnaturally in another season. No
longer do certain times of the year arrive in their good and proper time.
More than ever, people, too, are bizarrely variable and volatile. In the last 72 hours, any one person from here to there
has sulked, insulted, cried, flailed, raged, struck, quieted, brooded again, relaxed again, fumed again, become
pleasant again, wept again, and, finally, mused. By the minute, most anyone turns unreasonable, paranoid,
incoherent, silly, ridiculous, and stupid. As the state of the atmosphere has become wildly changeable and random,
so the state of the typical mind has grown dangerously inconsistent and irrational.
If lunacy really fluctuates during phases of the moon, then moods must go haywire during particular kinds of weather.
Does rising barometric pressure, for example, actually cause funk? The inconclusive, amateurish Scientologists
explain the emotional and mental upset of modern humankind by indicating what they call the "reactive mind," when
intellectual potentiality is disturbed by stress. Surrounded by bedlam in America, Billy Graham and entourage
peacefully assemble in Minneapolis to await the Second Coming. Nationwide, Republicans and Democrats fault each
other for disagreeable socio-economic conditions. Educators blame lawyers and realtors for profiteering.
Conservatives impugn Hollywood for overt immorality. Women now accuse men of forcing equality. Blacks, now more
than ever, condemn whites for genocidal racism, although Jews now charge blacks with the same. Rednecks curse
fags as freaks. Who is at fault?
Any college sociology course would yield the following working hypothesis: As more and more people are forming into
distinct entities, occurring profoundly is a sociological dissociation, a disunion of the people. That is also to say, if the
so-called collective unconscious can exist, then it can also dissociate, and if this genetic part of the unconscious
occurring in all members of the human race can disintegrate, then anyone or everyone can go mad. Make sense?
The point is, historically, in this society, even among a broad grouping of people, there prevailed a distinguishing
character of sameness. Today, just the opposite, people have become unfriendly, uncooperative, and especially
divisive. Why?
Simply put, they have individuated – or, to express it essayistically – they have seceded from the humble collective to
pursue distinction and grandeur until ruling with nearly unlimited authority, first to prove themselves superior to their
cruel childhood friends and disloyal ex-spouses, then merely to gratify their whims. "Life is a Sport," reads a Nike
slogan. "Play hard." Because moderns are essentially competing with one another in all respects of life, from
derbying to work to politicking in church, they are also rivalling against one another: A majority is striving for what only a
minority can possess. Competitive advantage is the position! the profit! and the prize! This sport called life, in this so-
called civilization, is ironically barbaric.
The zealous Scientologists, by speciously theorizing about the reactive mind, have reasoned in a reverse way. All that
hype about Dianetics, a hefty book of deceptive revelations by a science fiction writer, of all people, amounts to a false
look of truth. Even if society has become inherently unpredictable, the intrinsic, individual mind remains free from
disorder, however perplexing and troublesome situations in the outside world have grown. The real problem is,
environmental stimuli, as numberless and matchless as snowflakes falling on half the world, so induces and
provokes and motivates the average person that his or her sensory organs inevitably become overexcited, and in this
respect, even the typical person, to the extent of being unable to control opinions, beliefs, and practices, turns mildly
schizophrenic.
Today, undeniably, influences are fantastically limitless – life is a tumble and a blur. Yet no person is suited to such
circumstances; no one fits an environment of confused, hastened people. Yet everyone still proceeds rapidly forward
in time, living at a higher speed than normal until experiencing a violent agitation of mind and feelings – a shuddering,
like that of an old Buick unsafely highballing. The other problem is, while modern life fast-forwards, social activities,
like commercials in a movie, are bypassed. Narrowness of objective, it seems, has streamlined the fullness of life.
Today, neither government nor economy collectively and successfully controls any society. Quite the contrary, millions
of people, frantic with unhealthy, vindictive desires to achieve greatness, trample one another. Personal advancement
has minimized the significance of duty and conscience. All the while, cities environ scenes of uproar and confusion,
and offices and houses magnify spectacles of violent outbursts. Humanity is disorganized, and society is involuntary.
And now the Gods are angry, too.
Biography
John Michael Cummings's essays and short stories have appeared in Utne Reader, North American Review, and The
Iowa Review. He has fiction forthcoming in The Chattahoochee Review and The Kenyon Review. His novel excerpts
have recently appeared in Louisiana Literature, Rosebud, and North Dakota Quarterly. In addition, he recently
received representation by The Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc. for his first novel.
| April 2007 Issue 11 |
