Jim Morrison and The Doors of Perception
Always fascinating how column/blog topics enter the psyche.
Was listening to one of my singing idols — Julie London — do her sultry rendition of The Door’s Light My Fire. It’s terrific. Listen to it here on You Tube.
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
(Lyrics to live by.)
Just my kind of karaoke song. Unfortunately for my higher vocal range, they only seem to offer the original by The Doors. So, I re-listened to The Door’s version and learned from the CD jacket how the band got its name.
Jim Morrison – a rebel inspired by poets and philosophers like Nietzsche — stumbled on “The Doors” from two related sources. The poet William Blake who wrote, “When the doors of perception are cleansed, man will see things as they truly are, infinite. And author Aldous Huxley who wrote a book called, “The Doors of Perception.” Jim suggested the name to the other three members and Voila, it fit.
Once I read that William Blake quote, I started to ponder his words — The Doors of Perception. Googled it a bit and discovered that another Doors song, “Break On Through To The Other Side” talks about breaking through the doors of perception. An anonymous commenter wrote, “We have to see through the lies and deceptions and break on through to the other side to find our own version of the truth in life.”
Where did you get your truth in life? I got mine from other older people in my life. Brainwashing basically. Their reality became my reality. You really see this with politics. Children usually take on their parents’ politics, use the same lingo, spout the same emotion. When they get older and start opening new doors, they sometimes end up in a different political space.
Here are a few doors of deception (or perception) I’ve broken through.
- I do not have to give my power away. (dictators collect power from others.)
- There’s only a program if I go along with it. (not going through the airport body scanner. it has nothing to do with safety.)
- People will not fall apart if I tell them the truth. (and vice versa. humans are stronger than they let on.)
What doors of deception (or perception) have you broken through in life?
Thanks G.
p.s. Next week I’ll have my first guest columnist. Please stop by and leave a comment. I will, too.
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Great post, Giulietta. I love that mysterious thing about how an idea will come in. And thanks for sharing the tidbit about how The Doors got their name. That seems so fitting.
Deception I’ve broken through:
* I don’t have to listen to advice or even spiritual “truths” just because a whole bunch of experts (who are really good at marketing themselves) are saying the same thing. It’s up to me to use my discernment to feel what’s right for me.
~ Milli
M,
Love your non-deception and how you feel what’s right for you. Have experienced that one as well. You wonder who starts those spiritual rumors and why they promote dependency in the guise of liberation. Thanks for stopping in again. G.
That I have to “perform” to be loved. That praise = love. That everyone has my best interests at heart.
Also, I linked to you on my blog today. 🙂
Hey Angie,
Honored to be linked. I’ll swing by and leave a comment.
Good doors to open. I see the growing prominence of the perform to be loved thing. With everyone being encouraged to be a “rock star” and the deluge of reality shows, that’s a deceptive message.
Interestingly enough, I recall reading on the CD that Jim Morrison felt that he had to keep churning out better and better songs and that’s what led to his early death — at 27, like Amy Winehouse.
It’s o.k. to not be a rock star. And it’s o.k. to be a rock star that doesn’t always rock or star.
Many thanks for this contribution! G.
Performance orientation is exactly what our society is predicated on. Even if we’re doing “well” (whatever that means to us), there’s always a tv show or movie or tabloid pointing towards a celebrity or fictional character that is doing “better”, and that’s the stereotyped ideal we’re supposed to shoot for. It’s a giant bate and switch game.
So that’d be my door of deception, the one that suggested that appearance was more important than substance, that complex consumption trumped simplicity and experience. Funny thing is, doors of deception often require that we open them and go through again and again until we get everything out of the egress process that we’re supposed to.
RIP Amy and all the great artists before her that were tragically fooled by the fame game.
Hi Michael,
A worthy door of deception to open as many times as needed.
I’m convinced we’re trained to be shallow, so we become obsessed with appearance. That’s why malls are jammed day and night. Whatever we have we need more of it or a newer version. It means a life of utter dis-satisfaction propelled by angst.
I cringe every time I read that folks need to go out and buy more stuff to get the economy going. We need a new economic model.
Thanks, G.
Hi Julie,
You were reading my mind when you wrote this! How funny. I have been working out what my true mission statement is lately and one thing that has been ringing through my mind is something like “the doors of perception”. I think what I really want for this world is for people to explore those “doors” more.
I know that you are talking here of doors of DECEPTION, though. I guess with Amy W’s death, it has been bringing that up in the psyche about the tradgedy of young death – especially people who are disillusioned by the contrast between what goes on between their own ears and what seems to be going on in the world. That is always a bit confusing. The key, I believe, is to confidently live your own life just as you want it.
As for my own “doors of deception”, I would say that it has to do with financial matters. I was always taught that cheap is better and as I have been working through my own relationship with finances, I have come to understand that cheap is just cheap. Have a great week!
Hi Amy!
I just remembered that we met during the 30 Day Blog Challenge a few years ago. Good to exchange comments again. Perception and Deception seem to be linked. Glad you brought up the cheapness factor. Wherever I go, all folks talk about (and sometimes even me) is the price – discounted here, lower there, 50% off, etc. It’s invaded the US psyche to the point of insanity because lower prices mean the folks making them have to either be grossly underpaid or slaves and that includes us. It’s one of the reasons jobs go overseas, so the products we buy here cost less. It just took awhile for that effect to take place. Now folks want stuff even cheaper. The global economy is a slave economy.
Let’s return to the real price and buy quality items we need. Cheap stuff falls apart and you end up replacing it more often.
Nonsensical! Thx, G.
Great article, I loved reading how The Doors got their name.
“When the doors of perception are cleansed, man will see things as they truly are, infinite” is wonderful. Life has taught me this, thinking a lot has taught me this, but I’ve never known it in such eloquent words.
Hi Lauren,
Glad to have you here! Blake’s words get to the heart of the life matter – to be open to what’s really in front of us.
A woman in one of my classes once told me that we use only 5% of our brains. I believe it. I’ve been pushing through to the other 95%.
Thank you for stopping in! G.
I used to think there was a lot more conspiracy than there really is.
Having spent too much time in project management, it’s true that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Conspiracy is a tough thing to actually pull off.
Hey J.D.,
Fascinating angle to observe conspiracy. You’re right. Most folks don’t have it together enough to follow through with a conspiracy. It can look that way when you turn around because we’re now biased to the situation.
You’ve got me so intrigued by conspiracies that I’m going to look into the topic further.
Appreciative of your comment as always, G.
Wow, inspiring post Giulietta!
A few doors I’ve broken through would be:
– there’s no real reason to care about appearances (people will gossip no matter what you do)
– walking away is okay (from a situation, a group you belong to, a person, etc.)
Hi Estrella,
Two super doors to break through. Walking away (and I like the metaphor given your walking tours of Paris) from something can be the best thing a person can do for his/her life. We tend to be brought up teething on the scarcity model which causes us to perceive situations to be finite. Like Blake says, open your eyes and see that walking away from one thing means walking toward many more.
Look forward to reading more of your travel pieces! Thx, G.
My truths derive from living and observing the good and the bad in people. I learned early on not to believe everything I read or hear, but, to listen to all with a grain of salt and sceptical eye.
Best truth for me is trying to live the Golden Rule, it makes everything easier.
Hi Lou,
Angie wrote such a generous post! Wonderful that you walked over from her site. I see your comments there all the time.
So true. It’s important to collect your own info on folks. Otherwise, it’s just hearsay.
I’m with you on trying to live the Golden Rule. It helps to alleviate hypocrisy — a topic I’ve been fascinated with the past few years.
Thank you for the visit! G.
Interesting that you would start with The Doors and that particular song. In 1969, when I had a church wedding – an effort to conform/be respectable – we taped the music and that was one of the songs we played along with the Beatles’ It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night. So we didn’t actually conform in everything.
I find “the doors of perception” both a great quote and topic. To answer your question, what doors of perception have I broken through in life?
1. Age perception – at both ends, when I was young and started a career long before most people my age, especially women, had one. And now that I’m middle-aged and still going strong, working and trying to establish myself as a writer. You’re never too old.
2. Socio-economic perception. I was brought up at a time and in places where class discrimination was drummed into me. I learned not to judge people by their class or social level, but more by how I related to them as persons and vice-versa. It works both ways.
3. Overcame the perception that I was a failure/washed up after job, home, money loss and instead, how those could be used as challenges to find ways to make a new start.
Penelope,
I wouldn’t expect anything less from the wild you then playing Light My Fire at your wedding! So appropriate.
Yes, yes, yes about “you’re never too old.” Grandma Moses started painting in her senior years.
They want us to feel old at 25, so we forget about our dreams and follow the beaten path. Dreams are dangerous.
Your story about making a new start mesmerizes all who come in contact with it. You know that would make a good movie.
Thanks! G.
Giulietta, very insightful post. I just wanted to let you know that I republished it on http://www.jimmorrisonproject.com.
thanks Joanne. Nice pic of Jim on the site. Great face he had. G.
Life is a cycle; as you get older and realize how short it is, you become as daring and willing to take chances, as when you were young.
Hi Chas,
sorry for the delay in posting this comment. was off taking some chances! I’m so with you on realizing that life is short and to set on the sidelines makes no sense! thx, G.