The stark fact of existence is one of the biggest surprises we have to discover in our lives. We exist. We are. And we exist as. What I mean by that phrase - "We exist as" - is that we (people) only have meaning in a context. We exist as primates, and this is meaningful. Inherent in our primate nature is our existence as social creatures. We communicate dominance and obedience, establish our territories to one another, display might. And while these traits are taken for granted by many people too busy to notice, they are not unused.
We are also curious.
This, I fear, is a trait that has fallen into disuse. What has happened to the bug-collector? Replaced by the movie collector. The star gazer? Replaced by the media junkie. We are curious about our own inventions, but most of us have lost interest in things outside the realm of human artifact. This is not sad. It is tragic. And perhaps ruinous.
You will never feel a surer sense of your place in this world until you foster that curiosity - that natural curiosity - of plants and planets.
Go outside, look at the way the leaves in the trees move eerily with the wind. Observe the orb-weaver building its trap. Follow the flight of a falcon with wide eyes full of wonder. Walk somewhere new, somewhere empty of human artifacts, like a pasture, meadow, or forest.
You will feel as light as air, and as in-touch as ever. You will see things exist, and you will see in just what way you exist as.
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