Time to Write
No time to waste
I’m listening to Jerry Garcia singing “The Days Between” in 1993 from the 56th disc of a 60 disc compilation released for the 60th anniversary of his band, The Grateful Dead.
We are brief emanations on the surface of eternity. We emerge from the pleroma and fall back into that “fullness” - from which all that appears to be comes forth and back into which all that appears to have been returns. So it seems to me here and now.
I could be wrong. None of what we perceive through our limited and distorted apparti has to be what it seems. It’s been a lingering thought in the back of my mind that it would be lovely to write a book in German and title it “Sein und Schein” - Being and Appearance is the rough English translation. It is my position that “Sein” is inaccessible to us for the fact that our sensory equipment is limited and distorts the inputs into signals that are subject to interpretation. The interpreter within necessarily is using partial information to form its assessments regarding the input.
So it goes with my inner reverie on my own “being” - and the “sense-making” activity in which I have been engaging since arriving here. If there is one thing I can say with certainty it is “I don’t know” - I just know how things seem to me. Seeming versus being; Schein vs. Sein - maybe that is a better title. I don’t know. It seems to me that it might be.
Here’s the rub - if we were all willing to admit and meditate upon the meaning of this insight - that we cannot know, we might just be slower to judge and quicker to admit that we might be mistaken. We might forgive each other for our mistakes as we go about our business, trying to make sense out of what we perceive. It’s hard to be a human.
Substack is a good place to stretch out and marvel at this life. We are here now. We aren’t permanent fixtures on the stage of life. We are entwined with all that appears to be. We all fall back into the pond from which we have emerged in due time. Let’s cherish this experience of living….breathing….thinking….considering….and let’s try to help each other rather than hurting each other.
I’ve got a lot more to say but the disc I’m listening to is wrapping up. Bobby Weir is leading the band through “Good Lovin’” - Got to have love. So it goes. We are all in this together. Onward!
It was valuable to share your ruminations around life. These thoughts are on many people’s minds, I think. Maybe it was Socrates who said that the beginning of wisdom is to realize that we do not know. I think he also said: “Know thyself!” The latter is really what it is all about and that will keep us busy. And yes, it’s hard to be a human, and because of that, just like you said, let’s try to help each other rather than hurting each other or judging. We ARE in this together, although many have not figured that out yet. So, let us continue to “stretch out” on Substack (which I perceive as a place for constructive, supportive exchange), while marveling at life. Please come back soon with your “inner reveries”.
This is a beautiful bit of writing. Thank you for speaking of connection, and humility, and care. Judi