This morning as I walked the dog, I came across this dandelion. Beautiful isn't it? What made it grow that way and what forced me to see it among the grass that all looked similar? And why, before I had consciously identified it, infinity ∞ came to mind?
I wrote a piece the other day about the narratives possible in any image and I think that a picture can become an epic tome of work or, embody the most complex of ideas in a single frame. Look at this simple image, what do you see?
For me the curves of the stalk remind of infinity but it is not the story that is being told, it is the seeds that have been blown to the winds and those that remain where my story would lay. It would question the position of each and ask which have the strong view, the seeds that hold on tight to the earth that created them or, those who took to the skies of adventure?
I would spend time thinking through each scenario, simulating what it may be to be the human equivalent of a dandelion seed. after all, are we really so different?
We do not choose our existence, position on earth, genes, family, culture, finances, opportunity, government, religion or our personality yet, we identify with these things and use them to ground ourselves and take up residence. For the most part, we are the seeds that remain, not the ones that open themselves to fortune and tragedy.
We look at the others who fly and want a piece of the stream they ride but, we want to hold on to what we know, what we think we possess. For to lose it, is to lose who we are, who we think we are at the very least, lose the things we have attached to, the labels we call ourselves.
Those that fly rarely succeed, rarely find the destiny they envisaged as they are carried by the random winds of luck and often, the final resting place is hostile, unwelcoming and infertile. Do we feel good for the attempt or do we lament the loss of what we once held onto and wish if only we could go back?
Then I would question the wind, the one constant of life we an always guarantee, change. The rate of change will quicken or slow but, no matter how hard we cling or pray, it will never stop. If it does, we need no longer worry for once change is no more, life is no more for growth has stopped, evolution has stopped, movement, the only force this universe truly has, stopped.
We can quantify and philosophize and attempt to find our place, our meaning and purpose for our existence but, it is random, nature is blind to our trials and tribulations, we are alone as a species when it comes to those who care of our existence. At least, while we walk this earth, talk to those around us and poison the very environment that sustains our continued existence.
Continued existence, this is change, we are change, we are a force at play an no matter whether we sit upon the crest of the dandelion content with our lot, wishing for the stars or, float on the breeze looking for a place to land and take root, we make a mark. Every action we make has a reaction, a consequence and starts a ripple, a chain of events that can grow large or peter out and disperse to near nothing.
But never nothing completely for this is the way of energy, it gets taken from one moment,used in this moment and will create the next moment. The cycle will never end and if it does, we need not worry about meaning and purpose for we would be long gone, less than dust floating aimlessly in space.
Life is eternal, infinite, unbounded and as long as there is movement, there is potential for life to exist or in the way we are headed, exist again.
Is the story too metaphorical, too hard to grasp its contents and turn them over and over in ones mind until the understanding becomes reality? Do we struggle to relate ourselves to the insignificance in the grand scheme of the universe? So, tell me, how is it that we are so willing to make the claims over what is right or wrong, what is, and what is not? How can we be sure for, if we do not truly understand all the ramifications of being a seed on the wind, how can we say, I know about the universe.
Our views are narrow and no matter how much we advance, on the scale of what is knowable, we are never going to come close to reaching the end as it is continually evolving and changing in ways and places we are yet to even begin to search. Is existence futile?
I do not see it as such for we are purposed, we are talented, we are carrying skills that allow us to learn and advance our position. We are able to evolve ourselves to be better than we were a moment ago and if we are continually successful, this journey is infinite also.
If we become complacent, content in our position and no longer willing to ride the currents of randomness by design, we will slow until, the winds, the rains and the tides stop and our position will become untenable.
But, that is just a story based on a dandelion which for whatever reason, chose to not only grow unlike those around it but, be unique enough to grab my attention and write a story about it. Maybe it is the first of its kind, maybe it will be trampled tomorrow but, whatever the future holds for it, it did what it did and there is no going back and that holds true for the seeds it grew that took to the winds.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
I welcome you to take any thread and see how far you can pull. Do you know what you will find?