September 7, 2009
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A moment like lightning
We individuate things as we look at the world around us. We see people, which we break down into certain types of people, and then certain names of people, and eventually everything ends up analyzed like this. The mind finds it much easier to think about the world if we break everything down into categories.
It is for this reason that we get lost in trains of thought about all sorts of particular things; I may see a bowl and think about washing it, and then I think of laziness since I don’t want to wash it, and then I wind up lost in a mental montage of a sluggardly life.
And we spend all day like this in our heads, in a world of specific thoughts caused by things we see. When you see a person, you have really no idea where they are. The sign they just saw could have sent them to Nepal or three girlfriends ago or Barney. The traffic is much more chaotic in our heads than on the street.
But every now and then, I will wake up. At one point I may think to myself, I have spent the last six months of my life thinking about all these little things, lost in my head, really as a madman rushing down the streets without the bearings to know why he left the house in the morning.
Usually waking up will come when I am outside, and it is at night in a big field, and I can see the stars. Everything will be quiet, the cicadas and insects will be humming, the sounds of creation. The soft and silent chill of the night will find me, and once again it is an amazing thing to be alive.
But then it is back to the city of people, where we build a matching city of thoughts in our heads. And we dance and tango in the conversation and rhythm of life with all the other humans, and it will be six more months, maybe a year, before we remember that at the floor of our existence, we are shocked that we are here at all.
Comments (5)
Great reminder to live in the Moment…to be aware…to contemplate…thanks!
a person in the moment is the most dangerous one
I must say, your structuring and use of the English language fascinates me. It’s absolutely refreshing to read an entry that isn’t mostly made up of mindless drivel. Lo and behold, when I examined your other compositions, I discovered that same quality of writing and found myself truly appreciating your thoughts and ideas.
And Calvin and Hobbes is the epitome of brilliance, so your little tribute in the corner makes me eternally happy.
Just thought I’d let you know.
Awesome as per usual.
Well put and a great reminder.
(You’re like the only Xangan I know who leaves me somewhat speechless. And let me tell you, that is quite an accomplishment.
)
~V
Our neurons are very good at adding numbers together very quickly; if they receive more than some critical number of input signals within 1-10 milliseconds, then they send an output signal. However, if you ask a person to add 2 and 2, s/he might have to think about it for *several hundred* milliseconds before she says, “The answer is 4.”
The reason s/he took so long to answer is that the number 2 invokes images of, say, two dots on the face of a die, two birds on a fence, or a pair of nickels on the counter. A chalkboard, a classroom, a younger version of herself.
Basically, s/he was briefly meandering through that city of thoughts looking for the right street, the right building, the right room number, etc. It’s always a nice night for a walk, I suppose, even if it makes you add very slowly.