In the Wild, We Rhinos have to take care of ourselves when We feel poorly. We medicate, invariably with either diet or hydration, more or less. The Inner Rhino Medical Department knows what to do. So We just follow IRMD orders, and things usually realign themselves. Please recall: We don’t have other options.
Our system is not 100% foolproof, but then, what system is?
One thing that does recommend it is 50 million years of road testing.
Each of our memories is a story of some sort. Like stories, there is a beginning Situation, then a set of developments, and finally a resolution of the Situation, good or bad. And a moral of some sort, to make the memory memorable.
What is Wild is that these stories change with time in detail and meaning, and often in flavor. We revisit them and find the whole business has been changed, a new focus, a different moral. Sometimes a new character shows up.
Maybe the files do their own rewrites? How does that work?
We Rhinos (soloists that We are) spend a lot of time talking to ourselves. Sometimes We coddle or berate or persuade ourselves; it varies minute by minute. Anyway you slice it, there’s a lot of chatter inside.
What confounds Us is that We are mostly as poor at listening to ourselves as We are at listening to anybody else.
Perhaps Words are not what Life is all about.
Like putting gas into a car, each Rhino has different sized tanks for incoming information. We don’t all handle it the same way, nor understand its importance or relevance alike. Some of Us are good with one sort of fuel/data, others need a high-test combination. (What’s a metaphor for if it isn’t to abuse it?)
On the outside We are similar, but inside We each have particularious wiring and fuel injection (We can’t stop, even though We aren’t sure what fuel injection is.)
Fill ‘er up?
After We get to be two, or maybe some other age, We commence with adolescence. It depends on the individual.
Everything inside gets rearranged to accommodate how big We are getting on the outside, or vice versa. Anyhow, things are a mess for a while, but one day, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, here We are in all our Individuality. We were that and now We’re this! Hooray! Rhinodom resonates with the news!
Often this is a point where Mom discovers she is going to have another baby. She has usually had enough fun with the newly-improved offspring, and that youngster is encouraged to hit the Road of Life’s Independent Adventures.
And off We go, as ready as We’ll ever be, to find out what’s what! Hooray, some more!
For more on this topic, see the post for November 10, 2014
Some Rhinos have more on the ball than others. That is how it is. If every Rhino were the cleverest one, the situation would probably be exhausting. We say ‘probably’ because We have never tried it.
What is surprising is that there is never a status quo. One day We wake up in a fog, then, out of the blue, We get a Message, and our Insides go into gear, all cylinders firing, lights flashing and rumbling ahead. Over there, another Rhino has gone into a temporary state of mental short circuitry, no matter how clever our yesterday may have seemed.
Each of Us has plenty of potential, but it’s expression comes and goes in unexpected rhythmic curves. Neat.
How dull would it be if these curves were predictable?
Each of Us has a key, or possibly is a key, but locating the lock where the key works requires Determination, (which is a Rhino specialty). We are lucky that way.
We proceed from situation to situation until We find ourselves in a promising spot. The key works like gang-busters, and We trot through that door! Things feel sort of triumphant. Ta Daaah! Arrived!
The part they don’t tell you is that each door opens onto another series of opportunities, each keyhole different. Again. Corridors and tiers of options. Gotta keep plugging.
In some metaphorical version of Life, that’s what it’s all about. At least for Us. Our Inner Rhino is complex, more about discovery than congratulations.
Inside of Us We keep the records of what We have been up to, each of Us, all through our lives. Does it really feel as organized as this? No. It probably looks more like all the notes in the files and crates, tossed helter-skelter into a wind tunnel. Many bits, all adding up to Us. What version We get depends on which paper gets plucked from the twister at any particular moment.
Some of the broad topics our individual records cover are Lessons, Precepts and Concepts, Notions, Mistakes, Memories- both sweet and sour, Ideas, Thoughts, Ideals, Plans and Projects, Aspirations, Assumptions, Impressions, Doubts, Concerns, Intentions, Confusions, and Contradictions.
The trunk is for Regrets. We have them too.
There is a musical style called Funk, which We are not discussing today.
We are talking about the rare situation when a Rhino goes into a slump. The phrase We like is “in a funk”. Coping with depression. These conditions usually dissipate naturally, but they are plenty unpleasant while they last. The Rhino feels like a slave to moodiness.
Another use of the word “Funk” refers to a foul odor- to which We are sensitized. When one of Us is “in a funk”, Rhinos of all ages know because of the malodorous nature of the environs. We give that Rhino plenty of room to recalibrate.
Please Note: Not the ideal time for the cheery hello or tickling.
Rhinos have a wealth of Systemic Contributors. They are all dashing around inside, adding a dash of paprika to each thought and transaction. At least, that’s what We have always assumed was going on in there.
Nobody has actually seen a Vibe, probably because they are mega-quick. Maybe like Electricity, which We have not seen either. We see the results, but not the juice itself. Who has seen a flavor? Right.
Goes a long way in explaining our Rhino Demeanor, ask anybody.
Your Inner Rhino 