Ideas

…and questions

life

Jill Heinerth’s book, Into the Planet, brings out underwater cave diving, dangers, magnificence, beauty. In the latter part of the book, there are dives inside an iceberg in Antarctica. Imagine! Even there there is life.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Still, it brought up an image of life’s uniqueness. We don’t live inside icebergs; we tend not to live in deserts, or on very high mountains. We don’t live on polar caps or glaciers. There is life in these spots, but less of it.

It feels like life is so unlikely; that so many things had to go right to allow it, to support it. Be it bacteria, plants, trees, reptiles… Never mind getting to the point of a heart muscle, a rhythm.

As far as we’ve learned, there are billions of stars, and planets. With so many, one would think life is bound to thrive on a few. But… so much has to go right. Making the odds so against life…

fear

Image by David from Pixabay

Ever think about what fear is? From where it comes?

Really… a feeling? Images of upcoming dread and doom, in our heads? Is it neurotransmitters?

Is it all physical, bodily responses to our surroundings, what our senses perceive, or how our minds interpret future prospects or consequences?

If it were to be described, how would it be described… an entity, invisible, from within, that paralyzes?

Or something that puts out walls on the sides of the head and creates tunnel vision, seeing, focusing on one?

From without, monsters, threatening, loud, vicious… unreasonable, unreal, but feel real?

A feeling, or a thing?

a feeling that can be turned off?

a thing that can be pushed aside?

Two books I’ve come across recently bring up fear.

Into the Planet, by Jill Heinerth. About underwater cave diving. And Eyes Wide Open, by Isaac Lidsky, about losing his eye sight and experiencing fears associated with the process.

Both of them ‘got through it.’ Both managed obstacles, and many fears.

Fear is there, but manageable.

Maybe it is an an immediate bodily reaction, because it is the body that experiences pain. Right? It is the body that would suffer. Be it physical or emotional. A cut. A break. A rejection. An embarrassment. I cannot do this.

But I can.

love ๐Ÿ™‚

Wired for Love, a book about love and the associated neuroscience, by Stephanie Cacioppo, talks about the so many benefits of being in love… proven with measurements :).

It’s not that love itself is measured (although that is part of the book and her story), but more how we react, like anticipating each other’s needs, and those of others… and reacting faster to stimuli (a faster brain?), being more creative…

So… love!

a soul?

Image by Anthony from Pixabay

Ever think about how this word came to exist? And why?

A hand we can observe, so it’s reasonable to give it a name. Ego is also observable, albeit it might take more thought and analysis than for a hand. But a soul… a soul is not observable, right?

Or was it observable, to someone, or some people?

I think it had to be. People must’ve observed or felt or sensed something, like auras, and decided to give it a name.

I looked up the word recently, to prepare for the December newsletter. In English, the word’s etymology extends back to Proto- Germanic and Norse languages and cultures.

There is indication that one origin is
saiwalล, and speculation that that word’s origin is saiwaz.

Saiwaz is ‘sea’ or ‘lake’… a body of water. Part of the speculation is for this culture, a lake was a waiting location for souls, before birth, after death… either way, back then, around 1000-500BC, people from that culture must’ve sensed something to give it a name, it could not have been out of a vacuum. Or, it was an idea/concept they inherited, so those ancestors had to have sensed it.

We don’t come up with something from nothing…. right?

And if you, you, sense it, how would you draw it? Can you draw it? Would you add wings? Give it color?


about languages, again

They are for sure helpful in communicating, but also for much more. They help us, for example, describe what we see and hear and smell… what we sense, and feel; they help us describe what we do not necessary sense, but think, or suspect, like our intuitions.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

A little something from a biblical story–that of Abraham.

As the stories go, Abraham is the last figure in the Old Testament, to whom G-d speaks directly (this specific point might be debatable where Moses is concerned). But move away from religion, and scriptures, for a moment. What if… what if this story is in part, or from a different angle, about communication, and language?

Imagine, for instance, that Abraham had the means to hear and understand more than what we can today. Maybe even his son lost those means. Maybe… language is one means to communicate with the mystical, with the other side. So, what if sounds we can make are vibrations that touch that other side, and in turn vibrations from there touch us?

the power of mountains

I think mountains have power, a result of thousands of years of constant change, of constant interactions between water, air, and earth, between one type of force with another.

Just like with us, re-invention is strengthening and enlightening, and so mountains exude forces that are the results of those efforts and change.

the power of words

Another great short story from Ted Chiang involves a word, and more… it involves the imprint one word can have on our psyche. While communication can come in many different colors, so can words have many different effects on us. A simple example, for me, might be the words unique, and dream. Both have positive connotations and lead me to think of my uniqueness, and the possibilities that dreams give. Both bring happy thoughts. But, similar to Chiang’s story, what if a word can do so much more, like being a trigger; or, a step further, manifesting a thought… or an intent.

do we create or find ourselves?

Came across a quote that a student chose to write as daily wisdom (slightly rephrased):

Create yourself, instead of trying to find yourself.

It’s a great quote–powerful, because I think it reminds us that we have the choice, that we can decide who we want to be and what we want to do.

But, then, there is also the idea that it is dependent on the person. For some of us, maybe creating ourselves fits well because of knowing what we favor; for others, trying to ‘find’ ourselves might be a quest for some guidance… e.g., for what am I most fit.

From a tangent, some argue that Michelangelo, in Creation at the Sistene Chapel, depicted Adam as lethargic and in need of that touch to acquire life… or perhaps guidance.


When looking up at the sky, at a clear sky, looking all blue, what thoughts cross your mind? do you put aside thoughts of a near-vacuum and wonder what’s out there, or do you think there is nothing?

similarly with the moon, do you think it’s mysterious, or that its energies and cycles affect us, or does it barely enter your mind and consider it rock and dust?

actually, there is some speculation that our ancestors did not give the color blue a name until much later than most other colors, because blue is the least common of colors in nature, and because they thought there was nothing when they looked up at the sky. nothing.

Think about language and how useful it is for us. we take it for granted… the speaking, the writing, the stories. maybe there was an age when we all understood each other without any words… maybe we were telepathic. not today.

and think about all the different ways animals communicate — sound waves through water, motions, dances. Author Sue Monk Kidd, in The Secret Life of Bees, touches on the beauty of the social lives of bees. Bees communicate about where there are flowers by wiggling, and ‘dancing’.

2 responses to “Ideas”

  1. Wonderful thoughts.
    I try to create myself all the time based upon my values. Wanting to bring smiles and pleasure to everyone I interact with; reacting to people in ways that are supportive.. wanting to contribute in ways that resonate for me. Wanting to take care of myself ; being at peace.

    • Thank you for the comment, Louis, for the helpful reminders… to bring out smiles, to support. Incidentally, being at peace, and contributing to peace in others was a goal in a recent meditation course I attended :).
      -Issa

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