This post is about orgasms

In the past few days, I have been scouring my bookshelves and the net, on an NMJ-related quest for a particular Eeva Kilpi poem (no luck yet honey, but still trying). I found something else instead, though, also in relation to a conversation on the blogging ether.

There was something The Periodic Englishman said in one of his unique comments that I have felt the need to come back to. Because his comments pages are typically fourteen feet long, I shall save you the scrolling trouble and quote him directly here:

"I could probably just as easily have written about sex, as music – and in particular, orgasms (I’m being serious) - because there are some striking similarities. There is an unbearable sadness in giving in to desire and in the obliterating moments of a sated lust. It can feel hopeless and weakening and enough to make you cry, and yet the potent allure of such physical release completely defies description. It is too good, too shatteringly wonderful, too very nearly transcendental and unbalancing, altogether. But God alive, it can make you feel blue."

Now, I am not going to go into an analysis of my orgasmic potential (come ON, what were you expecting?). However, I am and have always (well, adult life anyway) been intrigued by the strange connection between sexual pleasure and an art-induced ecstatic state. A religious/mystical experience would probably qualify here too. There is a losing of oneself, a letting go, an out-of-time-ness associated with these things which are difficult to come by otherwise. I was sorely disappointed in the stupidity of my reply to PE on this - as I recall, I said "yes", how eloquent is that - so I am pleased to have found a quote that says some of the things I would've said, had I found the words. It is an Eeva Kilpi quote (so there is a line of thought running through this rambling post, after all, as you can see):

Orgasmissa ikuisuus lakkaa hetkeksi merkitsemästä ja ihminen vapautuu tietoisuudesta ettei ole ikuinen.
In the orgasm, eternity ceases to matter for a moment, and the person is freed from the knowledge s/he is not eternal.

(Ah, the translation would be so much more stylish, if only English didn't have gender-specific pronouns...)

Anyway - Happy Easter, one and all.

PS Much later - Having received some valued assistance with my translation, I offer you draft two:

"In the orgasm, eternity ceases to matter for a moment, and the person is freed from the knowledge they are not eternal."

Much, much better, isn't it, thank you PE...