words for thought

“The trouble with immortality is endless. The thought of it brings us into contact with problems of time itself — with shapeless problems we have never grasped and may never put into words. Our ability to exist in time may require our being mortal, although we can’t understand that any more than the fish can understand water. What we call the stream of consciousness may depend upon mortality in ways that we can hardly glimpse.” ~ Johnathan Weiner

the way things happen and why

I have recently found myself analyzing and considering the methods by which individual people and families go about living and shaping their lives. I am also intrigued by the idea that lives are constructions of intentions and circumstances, i.e. that they are the ultimate definition of each of us and that they are a mix of that which we hope for and that which we cannot control. The idea that our time in this life is something that we can shape and define, or more that, for reasons commendable and not, not everyone makes the effort to shape and define their life, is infinitely intriguing to me in this stage of my life. For whatever reason, I have never fully considered the power and potential of my own agency. I have, for that matter, also never considered that I even had agency. Meaning that, looking back, I think that I have lived my life without really understanding that I had the ability to change any of the aspects of it. This sounds odd and is not entirely true but I know that it is to a certain degree the reality of the situation. This makes me wonder how much of the world lives as though their lives are the only lives that they could lead and that their circumstances are the only ones that they could every experience on a day-to-day level.

Back to analyzing the methods by which people define their surroundings as they age and mature, I cannot help but connect this issue to foundational political philosophies. I think that, at its core, republican ideals are built around setting up a system that best allows each and every individual to better their lives, even at the expense of the group whole. I think that democratic ideals are built around setting up a system that best allows the group to better its  life, but at the expense of the individual. With this in mind I look at how the people around me set themselves up to insure their future; do they mind paying more taxes towards community goals, would they rather put their money directly into the community, instead of through the government, do they teach their kids to regard their families beliefs as acceptable truths or do they teach their kids to accept whichever truths they find to be worthy of acceptance? And on what level is any of this conscious?

Things in northwest Montana are different from in Philadelphia but the way that people's brains work is the same. People everywhere are living their lives out trying to best get what they want without sacrificing what they have. While the things that influence them are different, i.e. surroundings and possibilities, the ways that they go about it is quite alike; they work a few more hours a week, they move, or they have more kids.

I am losing my train of thought but hopefully it will return

time and the woods

Working outside everyday in the woods is a mind expanding experience. To see natural processes at work with no, or at least little, human influence is truly incredible. If you know what to look for you can see time passing, literally see time. You can see this in cities too but, to me, it is somehow easier out here. You see erosion changing mountains and rivers, you see trees growing and dying, you see animals in the midst of it all struggling to survive. These are the realities of nature. Walking into them and merely observing them, meaning not fully being a part of them, gives you a sense of watching a time-lapse video or something, which, of course, you are but there is something more to it. It is like watching ice melt or clouds change and pass. You know what is coming, what the end result will be, but you are still interested in seeing exactly how it takes place. There is something profound about it. Something truly profound. It is life. It is us. We have removed ourselves from the process to the best of our abilities but we are still a part of it. Walking into the woods and really spending some time there is like going home. I, at least, feel an incredibly deep sense of ease and comfort. Things make sense in a way that they rarely do. Everything, even though it is in a constant state of flux, feels just right. Everything feels as though it is in exactly the right place even though it was only through an absurdly random process that anything arrived at that exact point and place in time. Order in the midst of the ultimate disorder. Nature. Makes me swoon.

Friday Evening Thoughts

• Obama has caught more top Taliban officials in the last month than George W. Bush caught in the last 6 years of his administration.
• Glenn Beck is losing sponsors crazy fast. How long can he keep it up before he has to adjust his approach or go off the air?
• The winter olympics are great. So damn exciting. BUT They are also so absurdly 1st world/Eurocentric/Northern Hemisphere. It's pretty unreal. 
• Chatroulette is disconcerting. Further proof that instead of being out meeting people we would rather sit at home and randomly interact with total strangers. It's all too safe for me. You're not putting anything at all on the line by experiencing other people that way and it's the putting of stuff on the line that strengthens us. Still, it sounds fun. I'll probably end up doing it. 
• It is too easy to get through the day without really having to use your brain. We need more productive and accessible ways of spending our time. 
• Pictures really are worth a thousand words.
• I thought Johnny Weir was amazing last night. So much emotion in the way he moved. 
• Been going crazy on Hot Chip for the last week or so. So good.
• There is NO way that we are the only forms of life in this universe. This video will expand your frame of thought and make you feel miniscule.
• My experience of the world feels so broad and encompassing. It is beyond comprehensible that there are 6.6 Billion other people across the world who probably feel the same way. How do you go about living your life knowing that? I believe that many of the political and cultural rifts that separate us today are based on each of our responses to that question.