Roughly 91 million miles (it varies) from a small star, 3 stars in to a solar system lies a blue planet which is almost 8,000 miles wide, which spins at approximately 1,000 miles per hour, and flies through space at 67,000 miles per hour. It takes this planet almost 24 hours to complete one spin, and 365 days more or less to circle around the star which holds it in its orbit. This results in a gravitational pull of 9.78 meters per second (squared). Its proximity to the star, plus a plethora of other factors to numerous and frankly irrelevant to my point has made it a relative lottery winner amongst other planets in that it sustain life (this is of course up to some debate as ‘winner’ is a term I am sure the planet is not always feeling due to the nature of some of its inhabitants).
And that, my friends, through the magic of the internet and several millennia of these inhabitants evolving and looking inward and outward and poking and prodding and kicking the tires, we now understand how we humans can stand up and not fall off this world at these horrific speeds and thus burn up then freeze and go back to being stardust, rather than walking around wearing cloth coverings, styling the hair (or lack thereof) on top of our craniums and debating whether any of this really matters.
It is a part of the human condition to try to explain things. To measure, to explore, to quantify that which we perceive so that we understand why. To sooth our intellect and thus explain how it is we are so lucky/ Through the years, I have taken a minor interest in physics and mostly understand how these statistics are what has led to me being able to sit here and articulate myself. But in reality, I don’t need to understand any of it to enjoy it. None of us do. We can get up in the morning, scratch ourselves, brush our teeth and shower, go to the bathroom, don our cloth coverings and make our way through our lives, earning odd pieces of metal and paper (or now just electronic numbers) that buy us sustenance and lodging and Netflix, only to go to sleep and start the insanity all over again the very next day.
We do not need to understand it to enjoy it. We don’t need to understand the mechanics of a vehicle in order to enjoy one. We don’t have to understand how a particular fine wine is made, or a beer is brewed, or how the internet actually works, to enjoy them. We just enjoy them.
30 years ago I met a gorgeous redhead who captivated me and turned my world on its head and made me somewhat understand that I knew so little. And in the ensuing years, two children (now adults), 7 dogs, 3 houses. numerous cars, and so many other things, I have, like many other people, pursued my intellect in a attempt to understand Anne. To see what makes her tick. All for the good of myself of course. All to make reason of my own existence. And it has taken me all these years to grasp that this is just not possible. And I do not mean this in a misogynistic manner. I live with this wonderful person. I really want to know. And I have figured out that I can’t figure it out.
Anne is truly one of a kind. As the years go by, her potential is slowly revealing itself, and it it something to behold. She is so much: a mom, a wife, a friend, an educator, and Aspie, a loner, a brilliant writer, an old heart, a dog lover, a restless soul, a timeless entity….but most of all, a mystic. A mystic by one definition is ‘ a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.’ That definition does not cut it for me. I would say ‘deep to the point of infinity’ might be closer. Not even Anne understands Anne…..yet. She has done her ‘shift’ as mom of children. She is an educator to be sure, but that just pays the bills. If you were to ask her what she does, educator would likely be far down the list, although as a teacher she is most awesome. Of course she is. She does well at everything she tries. But she is SO much more.
Many have asked me the very questions I have often asked myself. What makes her tick? Why does she do the things she does? Why so many projects? Why so busy? And I have to tell you all right here, right now…..give up wondering. I have done so for quite a while now, and it really helps. here is no quantifying Anne. There is no ‘raison d’etre’. At least not in any way we puny bipeds have the capacity to comprehend. And that’s okay.
Just do like me. Just enjoy it. And prepare to be amazed!
Bill's Musings 