What’s in a name?

Many of you might know I adopted the moniker “the artful dorian” for my website address. * I liked it because it had a nice ring,  - artful dodger, artful dorian...it just rolls right in there.....it seemed memorable. Also it says something about the multiple martial arts and other arts I practice. And finally, I liked the way that you can read “heart” in  “theartfuldorian” when you string it all together for a web address.   Well, I finally did a little internet research to remind myself exactly who the artful dodger was.

 I found this on Wikipedia:

“The Artful Dodger is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. The Dodger (whose real name is Jack Dawkins) is so called because of his success in avoiding arrest, being a skillful pickpocket. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin. He is mostly seen in an oversized coat and a stovepipe hat. The nickname "Artful Dodger" is still commonly used to refer to someone who is good at avoiding responsibility or the consequences of his or her actions. “

Oh yeah, I remember now…..hhhmmm, not exactly the image I wanted to convey……

Interestingly enough, back in the 70s a ‘power pop’ rock band called Artful Dodger  formed in Fairfax, Virginia and released half a dozen albums to critical acclaim and no financial success. What is interesting to me about this is that Fairfax, Virginia is my hometown and back in the 70’s, I probably partied with the band at one of the local bars or neighborhood keg parties. (And whatever ‘power pop’ is, I am sure that I preferred it to disco back then.) And, coincidentally enough,  my artistic endeavors too have met with some critical acclaim and no financial success as well!

Now, maybe I need to think about the implications of my name resonating with child criminals, people who avoid responsibility for their actions, and a power pop band from the 1970’s suburban nightmare of my teenage years.  Is it just one more paradox I accept?  One more pair of opposites, the synergy of which defines my life thus far? Am I (as usual) reading too much into this? Really is it just a catchy web address…

Maybe another way of looking at it is this:  really it is not possible to avoid the consequences of one’s actions – it is a bit of a myth that anyone does. The myth arises and seems true, because sometimes cause and a related effect seem obvious. But then, when effect doesn’t follow cause immediately, we think maybe there was no effect - no consequence for that action. Not so - more and more we are learning ( what many have known all along) that not everything is linear – the world doesn’t really work in a ‘tit for tat’ manner. Action and its consequence are sometimes far-reaching, acting more and more like a spiraling helix of action, followed by action, accumulating to effects unanticipated in the interconnected web of life. So that we are coming to realize that all our actions have consequence  - some perhaps more direct than others.

And it’s the same with avoiding responsibility. You can’t really  - unless you are completely numb or perhaps no longer alive. Responsibility means the ability to respond. We all have the ability – how we  respond or how we direct our ability is up to us and whether we use it depends to a large degree on how sensitive we are – the more I feel, the more I care. So maybe I can avoid taking responsibility –but at the high cost of not feeling  - becoming desensitized. For me, for all of us - this is really not an option – our practices keep us living and feeling and growing.

For now, I think I will hang onto my moniker and consider it another paradox or koan to contemplate and see what lessons it holds.

Enjoy your Art(s)

Dorian

*  thanks to Harper Vinkemulder for the suggestion