Blog of the Day - April 29th - 05

So, I haven't posted for a while. The third eye surgery was successful - yes! I can't see much out of it, yet, but I won't need another 'detached retina' surgery -- I hope -- I hope -- I hope.

My daughter gave me a list of her contemplations from school and they are so cool. I thought I'd try one here. Check it out.

Reflect upon the metaphors you live by. If you were to compare life to some activity, what would you compare it to? Spend a day observing the connection between this metaphor and your daily experience. How does your metaphor apply to your interactions? In which cases does it prove helpful, and in which cases does it not apply? Observe and write.

Okay, here it is. It took me a bit to get a handle on 'metaphor.' The metaphor that comes to mind when I compare life to an activity is: Life is breathing. As I inhale I take in the same substance that I have taken in for fifty-odd years. As I exhale I breath out the same substance I have sent out for my entire life. But just because the substances are the same, there are small differences. I take in information but is it the same information I took in when I was five years old? No, I have changed. The information I provide is not the same either. I slept with my sister when I was a child, meaning we slept in the same bed. I slept with my husband on our wedding night, a very different form of 'sleep'. I slept with my dog last night, a third type of sleep. My sister and I kept each other warm during long cold winter nights, my husband and I spent passionate nights exploring each other's bodies, my dog nestled up next to me, comforting me with his closeness.

So, how is this helpful? Well, I can see where my life is the same, and yet different. There is a continuity that is comfortable and comforting. This provides a pattern that proves to me that life is not random nor is it unknowable. So, where does it not apply? Hmm, that may be harder. When I try something new, for the first time, the consequences may be unknowable. Thus, despite the fact that I've taken in life and distributed life, my life is not static, and I am not in a state of stasis. My life contains elements that are unknowable.