The world around us is in a constant state of change. Even solid granite decays over time. Bars of solid stainless steel decompose, bit by bit, until their transformation is complete. But we do not have the ability to witness change taking place very slowly, so we mistake sluggishness for stagnation; ever-so-gradual change for permanence.
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What is usually an open spigot seems to be closed tight at the moment. No words. Nothing. Change is taking place, but it’s so slow it’s imperceptible—except in hindsight, displayed in high-speed playback mode. Only by looking behind us—where we’ve been—can we see that, indeed, we have been following a path. The speed of forward motion accelerates dramatically, though, as we approach the destination we’ve tried to hard to avoid. The future, whatever it holds, is a powerful magnet and we are misshapen scraps of iron.
Suddenly, I wonder about the relationship—if there is one—between gravity and magnetism. My somber mood transforms into emptiness in search of contents. I want to understand gravity and magnetism; not from a theoretical perspective, but from the standpoint of true knowledge; a deeper appreciation of the physical relationships between inanimate objects that hold one another in some sort of magical web of interconnectedness. A magnet and a piece of scrap iron cannot exhibit emotional bonds; but they can illustrate a kind of emotion-free hunger that physical objects can “feel” for one another.
On an unrelated, but tangentially relevant, matter, I learned from my morning perusal of the massive store of information available on the internet that a person can be “touch starved.” People need human to human touch. When the need for touch is not adequately met, touch starvation can result. There’s no definitive way to diagnose touch starvation, but here are some symptoms:
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- feelings of overwhelming loneliness or feeling deprived of affection
- feelings of depression
- anxiety
- stress
- low relationship satisfaction
- difficulty sleeping
- a tendency to avoid secure attachments
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As usual, I have put off writing notes for my presentation tomorrow (my Unitarian Universalist “faith journey”). Inasmuch as it’s just a shade over 24 hours away, I’d better get serious about making an outline of what I will say. Otherwise, I will simply talk aimlessly for far too long. So, I’ll have to stop what I’m doing and do something more productive.
