the inch. think about it, really think; about life an inch away from the rest of your universe.
what would you see? what would you do?
we distance ourselves from reality, insulate ourselves in fantasy; oh yes, i do it too, dear readers. but it's easier to keep the world at arm's length when your arms are a little longer.
if you couldn't hold it all off, what would happen? would it be overwhelming? would it be scary? would it be invigorating? the inch could change everything.
as a people we seem to enjoy a self-image of being detached, disilluioned and disenfranchised - wise after the fact, cassandraic in our sage predictions, but safely powerless to actually take responsibility. watching the news, nodding wisely, and saying, "yup, told you it would all go wrong."
what if we couldn't keep that distance? what is it like for the non-observers, those who can't get that sense of perspective, those who are within the inch? just as a mental exercise, try to think about it. try to release the comforting grip on jaded cynicism. be within an inch of something - really be there.
overwhelming? scary? invigorating? let me know.
I'm sitting on the edge of the inch, creeping backwards moment by moment. People are falling and tumbling off the edge, scrambling for purchase to no avail. It's reality, and it reminds me of Dante's inferno, bodies squirming and scratching, trying to climb out, then someone grabs my leg and pulls me down into the fire... Tumbling, falling, soaring, as people pull me over the edge with them. But wait... am I falling, or is down a different direction than I thought? I think Im actually flying now, and "down" was really south... South Dakota, and it wasn't fire I was smelling, it was the earth being warmed by the sun.
ReplyDeleteA few months later, after I wind my way home from work, I open the car door and pause for a moment. I smell the burning wood of fire from the houses being heated from within and I'm reminded of how I can feel the heat from the body of my husband when we're lying side by side. He's heated from the inside too. But I can only feel it if I'm within an inch.
I must admit I can be a bit detached. :-) I'm an observer by nature, reinforced by my upbringing!
ReplyDeleteI was, as my father insists, raised to be alert. The world, he says, needs more lerts.
Pearl
it feels like you are writing about ME!
ReplyDeletei like to think i am in control. and when convenient, i like to think that things are beyond my control and what will be will be. and in between, i pretty much worry about everything. JOY! lol
p.s. off topic, but YOU LEAVE THE BEST COMMENTS!