Self Portrait

A well of deep azure

 Sinking in blue

 …so she floats atop sunbeams to embellish her hue.

Dada

“What does that one look like, georgie?” My dada and I looked through the branches of the big tree that towered over our little basement apartment. Big fluffy clouds hung in the sky forming shapes to awaken even the dullest imagination. I smiled at this new game. We laid on our backs next to each other and my dada pointed out frogs, elephants, and donuts hidden in the cumulous blanket.

 The memory is more like a shadow that quivers in and out of focus. I can’t quite grasp it from the archives of my mind. I don’t think I could even talk yet, but I remember lying there and my eyes didn’t hurt even though we were looking strait up into the sky. Soft white seed balls fell from the tree and piled up around us like warm snow.

 “Dada” was my first word.

Unconscious Philosophers

I’ve met a lot of unconscious philosophers who don’t know they are philosophers; instead they see themselves as spigots of clear truth not noticing that ideas ripple across reflection.

 …our paradigms collide.

 At first they annoy me because…well, philosophers are annoying. They have ideologies that expand and grow, but that growth is ultimately locked within the confine of their limited sphere. They don’t know my experiences; they don’t have my knowledge. How can they assume that they are right?

 But I’m an unconscious philosopher too…and I also live by assumptions. You have to live by assumptions because without assumptions you’d be stuck in bed with Descartes ranting “I think! Therefore I am…unable to get out of bed because the floor might suddenly fall out from under me!” This is the result of a falling-out with assumption.

So we walk across a delicate edifice of assumptions, some call it faith. We walk, hoping to learn something of truth. These annoying philosophers theorize all day long about their cosmos …making predictions and judgments, contradicting themselves every step of the way.

 But I love them for it because, let’s be honest, we’re all walking contradictions muddling through our own experiences and the experiences of others passed down from thousands of years of truth seeking. Some efforts yield a more lasting grasp on ultimate reality than others, but the continuous attempt is almost as important as the discovery.

So here’s to the unconscious philosophers—they who have opinions and don’t know it!