Personal pools of inadequacy arise at Simon's celebration

Personal pools of inadequacy became both deeper and wider as plaudits were piled upon the life of the late Simon Furphy.

This rather special portrait of Simon Furphy
was on show at the recent celebration
of his life on the banks of the
 Sevens Creeks at Arcadia.

Funerals are rarely places of criticism or doubt and so to hear such laudable talk of a fellow who for 60 years had been an intimate player in Shepparton’s practical and social life should not have surprised.

No, the praise was not a surprise, but what did catch me unprepared was how Simon’s honesty and passion for life left me feeling like I had not really had a “crack”, how I had been less than an ideal husband, father and friend, and how I had failed to use my skills, whatever they might be, to make this a better place.

From all accounts Simon lived his life as if the glass was half full and even in the final days of his struggle with bowel cancer, he was, according to family and friends, fiercely optimistic, illustrating to the end a signature trait.

Hundreds of family and friends recently gathered on the banks of the Sevens Creek, beneath shady gum trees, at the Arcadia property of his brother and sister-in-law, Andrew and Frederica to recognise and celebrate the former Shepparton solicitor, through music and story.

Simon had been a diligent fellow, but also, so we were told at his “celebration”, of his ease in acquiring friends and his curious penchant for striking alliances that brought personal benefits or enriched whatever group he was with.

No matter how jolly people may be, funerals, or a celebration in Simon’s case can be less than uplifting for even though we might all still be alive, and that of itself is cause for joy, there is a sombre sense about the whole affair.

Listening to the wonderful optimistic, upbeat, sociality and enthusiasm Simon brought to life ignited reflection upon what it is to be human.

Unquestionable Simon, as with the rest of us, had his failings and as suggested by author Isaiah Berlin, was built from the same “crooked timbers of humanity”, just as we are.

Ironically, just about the time we gathered on the banks of the Sevens Creek to listen to music and tells stories about Simon, and celebrate his life, a book about our denial of death had slid into view.

We all live with the implicit understanding that death awaits us and so are driven to sometimes bizarre ends to achieve imagined immortality and frequently those efforts manifest themselves in less than kindly ways.

Strip away the façade that is modern life and revealed are the reasons why men hurl themselves over parapets to certain death, why we exhaust ourselves acquiring what we want, rather than need and why we are victims of a surfeit of emotion.

And yes, it was a celebration, and yes, if I perceive Simon as portrayed, it was sad we kicked up our heels without him.

We need thinking that will break ranks

Human imagination is faltering.

Albert Einstein became
famous for his curiousity.

Such an observation will undoubtedly draw criticism from many quarters, but in nearly every case that censure would come from those who are among the few, the measured minority, who enjoy the benefits of man’s imaginative innovations.
Many of the billions that tread the earth live each day on what most Australians consider small change and some live in countries of which they know not and nor do they have any idea what exists beyond a day’s walk.
Humankind has travelled on the back of imagination for millennia and sometimes that has been good and at other times, not so good. 
The 20^th century was alive with imaginative developments and that 100 years of innovative momentum has continued into the 21^st century with something new appearing on the human landscape nearly every other day.
What we have seen, though, has been somewhat linear, an almost expected, development of what already existed.
What we haven’t seen, a further example of the paucity of imagination, are ideas that have truly broken ranks; ideas that have sent humanity hurtling off on a refreshingly new journey.
Technologically the advances have been many, especially in the world of electronics, and while they have made much about life easier and more convenient, whether or not they have made life better is an open question and so any answer is subjective.
Danger lurks everywhere for even commonly used and understood terms such as “better” are subject to corruption and misunderstanding as one fellow’s better paradise is another’s hell.
Let’s agree that better is qualitative covering contentment and happiness rather than the quantitative measure of the accumulative life upon which success in the modern life is computed.
Abiding by that agreement we face our first challenge in stepping beyond contemporary understandings of success and launch ourselves into a whole new paradigm in which a better life is about kindness, sharing and collaboration; a way of living that, despite the protestations of our pedagogical politicians and corporations, is the antithesis of what exists.
Having freed ourselves from the straight jacket of existing thinking, we need to unleash our imaginations to consider iconoclastic utopias as opposed to their blueprint counterparts that are intimately, and generally, restrictive in every sense – they are totalitarianism by another name.
The stereotypical understanding is that most utopias are the foundation of tyranny or despotism, but we should note that none of the anger, violence and distrust the soak these ideologies are evident, in any way, in the qualities of genuine utopian thinking.
Nor will you find evidence of the manners that prevail in a civilized society in any form of government that has tyrannical traits and subsequently is devoid of kindliness, honesty and equality.