On the Turning Away - Pink Floyd 1987
I first heard Pink Floyd's ballad “On the Turning Away” back in 1987 when I was a young father, married
for only three years, struggling with my wife to rub two dollars together trying to support our young family. It was
a difficult time in our lives - we were flat broke following a failed business venture. I was unemployed, heavily
in debt, with two babies to feed.
The lyrics appealed to me back then. It was powerful stuff. I listened to this song many nights, over and over
again. It was hauntingly beautiful and real. I identified with the sentiments of the writer, the imagery was raw,
cold and dark something that reflected my predicament at that time. But it was not all depressing, for the last
stanza of the song always lifted my spirits. In the end there was hope – “no more turning away” where the song
builds up to an electric guitar crescendo with one of the best guitar solos ever played by David Gilmour. It was
mesmerizing stuff – a shift from one emotional extreme to another, on the wings of the night.
Yes, this song had a profound effect on me back then, as it still does today. Instead of focusing on my sad
and unfortunate circumstance it forced me look at those in worse off situations. Suddenly my problems did not
seem that bad after all. It steered me away from the precipice of depression, helped me regain confidence in
myself and made me more aware and sympathetic to the plight of others.
This is ultimately a song of Hope. There is a common humanity in all of us. The coldness inside will be warmed
as we spiritually grow and become aware that we are not alone in this world, that we have a duty to help others.
As we light the flame, the shroud that had cast itself over all we have known will be lifted from our lives.
This is one of the most powerful songs I have ever listened to. To this day I get goose-bumps and an adrenaline
rush when I hear it on the radio.
It takes me back to those days, and forces me to ask the question – do I care enough?
By Lunik Liu
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"
It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it's shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?
Michael Crichton – Author, Doctor, Spiritualist, Film-maker, ScientistBorn: 23/11/1942 Died: 4/11/2008
Creator of ER and Jurassic Park
A brief essay on Happiness
We're often told that happiness is an illusion, and some of us believe it, despite the experience of our
own lives. Happiness is obviously not an illusion, because we've all felt it, not once but many times.
Most commonly, we realize after some period of time — perhaps a few minutes, or a day — that we
have been happy in the time just past. We haven't thought about it one way or another, but now that
we do, we realize we've been happy.
That happiness occurs when we're not paying attention to it is part of why happiness seems so mysterious.
But it isn't mysterious at all.
We know a lot about what doesn't make you happy. As a rule, nothing you lack now will make you happy
when you get it. People imagine they'll be happy as soon as they get that relationship, degree, marriage,
or promotion — only to obtain it, and find happiness eludes them.
Similarly, buying things doesn't make anybody happy. The endless disappointment of shoppers, thronging
to the stores to acquire the new clothes of the season, the new car of the model year, is repeated again and
again. We make our purchase, and feel happy for a while. But soon the happiness fades. The purchase didn't
do what we hoped, and we begin the buying cycle all over again, like alcoholics who have forgotten the hangover.
The truth is that buying things — particularly for yourself — won't make you happy.
In fact, the more attention you lavish on yourself, the more unhappy you become. People focused on their bodies,
their clothes, and their career aren't happy. Look around, and see if it isn't true. Devoting a lot of attention to
yourself is actually a prescription for misery.
If you want to be happy, forget yourself. Forget all of it — how you look, how you feel, how your career is going.
Just drop the whole subject of you. We all know this is true because we've all had the experience of doing some
task — even cleaning the sock drawer or washing the dishes — and for a while, forgetting ourselves entirely.
And when we blink our eyes and come back, we realize we've been happy.
So losing your self-preoccupation is important. How do you do that? Simple: focus on something else.
People dedicated to something other than themselves — helping family and friends, or a political cause, or
others less fortunate than they — are the happiest people in the world. We sometimes hear about how people
"throw their lives away" or "live for others." But such people are often very happy.
Of course, if you care for others, if you devote yourself to some cause greater than you are, it doesn't mean your
life will be free of troubles. No one's is. It doesn't mean you'll enjoy every minute. No one does. But it does mean
you'll have a happier time than somebody who's always looking out for number one, or who is hurrying to buy the
latest trendy thing, or who is standing before the mirror, watching his or her life drain away — as it inevitably does.
So if you want to be happy, resolutely turn the spotlight off yourself. Forget your own self-importance, your aches
and pains, your feelings and fears. Instead, get busy. The world is wide and fascinating, and it needs your
participation. People out there need your help. And you need to get off it. A little more service to others, and a
little fewer possessions to claim your attention.
Now: who knows all this? For one thing, terminally ill people do. When you learn you're dying, you work out
the priorities real quick. Nobody on their deathbed ever wishes they spent a few more days at the office, or
bought that new car. What matters is friends and family, and human relationships: what you did for other people,
what they did for you. How you helped and were helped. Where you cared and were cared for. That's the heart of
happiness, and all the rest is commercial hustle. Don't buy it. Make the world a better place and you make your
life worth while. Make your life worth while and you'll be happy. You don't need to buy anything or ask anybody
for advice. You can just go do it.
And you can start right now.
