Day 189

Sometimes we jump right to the end of the game, in order to find the feeling of victory. I've made the mistake, in the last year, of reading quite intently into literary theory while avoiding building up a library of literature. I'm finding that, the more classic fiction and good contemporary fiction I read, the better my understanding of over-arching themes becomes. This is an obvious point and truism, but it does get lost on people, myself included.

And it is also a clear point that life can, or at least tries to, reflect art. The stories we read, or watch in the movies, will eventually play into our expections for how analogous relationships in our own lives will play out.

Or, is it that art reflects trends in life and culture? The answer to this chicken-and-egg question is also the answer to who we should be blaming when we see violent children (with idle parents) mimicing the television.

But, as I find is the case with some of the most pressing thoughts on our minds, the question itself may be badly formulated; relationships betwen causes and effects, when it comes to things as terribly complex as human motivation (not even to mention the injection of free will and choice), are difficult to string together, to say the least.


Darwin's answer: the egg came first, because whatever laid it was almost, but not quite, a chicken.

The thing we call true love isn't a thing, but an innumerable collection of tiny, miniscule moments, feelings, and memories. It isn't 'out there' to be had. It is a creation, a labour of effort and time and experience and development and mutual growth and conflict. I've learned thus far that willingness is distantly insufficient (though necessary) for a meaningful relationship.
Anyway, notice the little things, try to build your ideas out of them. The biological world is moving, growing, changing in ways that exceed our imaginative capacites by leaps and bounds! How fortunate we are to take a close look at one little living thing, and to take a mental snapshot of its drip-sized contribution to evolution's river, weaving through time and around Earth's elements.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great pictures. And a thoughtful post to go along with them!
2:57 PM
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