Strength. Light. Power. Distance. Time. Pain. Temperature. Intelligence. Depth. Illumination. Area. Circumference. Likelihood. Poverty. Wealth. We have measures for almost everything. Some of those measures collide with one another or compete for dominance…like distance and circumference…and power and strength. Their precision—or lack thereof—coincides with degrees of certainty and doubt. Our efforts to define the extent of our understanding of the world around us sometimes leads to confusion. For example, is light synonymous with illumination? And what about conditions, such as morality or anger or thought or bravery, that do not lend themselves to reliable measurement? Consider how one can measure a response to the admonition, “don’t overthink it.” Some conditions, like bravery, do not readily correspond to malleable measurements. The measure of bravery, from one perspective, is “brave” or “not brave.” The problem then becomes one of definition, not measurement. But there is a spectrum of such conditions; “very brave” or “somewhat brave” or “exceptionally brave.”
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“Tomorrow” is not an antonym for “yesterday,” any more than “milk” is an antonym for “water.” Yet “after” is an antonym for “before.” And “Sunday” is not an antonym for “Saturday.” “Pregnancy” is not an synonym for “life,” just like “abortion” is not an antonym for “birth.” “Appendicitis” is synonymous with “pain” in the same way that “starvation” is an antonym for “greed.” In that way, “blindness” is a malady unrelated to “taste.” We look at the world through different lenses, especially when wearing business suits versus diapers. When wearing both, one can claim to be the leader of the free world. If all cars were white, the very idea of a red vehicle would be sacrilegious. Modesty is the defining attribute of people who live in glass caves. Gibberish is more appealing than a murderer’s manifesto. So they say.
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I’ve been sitting in front of this computer monitor for hours, unable to think rational thoughts and incapable of revising what my brittle fingers have typed. I believe I need something nutritious and able to restore or remanufacture my imagination. The corrosive obstacles are more annoying than I expected. Healthcare obligations interfere with my enjoyment of almost everything, from time to time.
