15 January 2008
Absolutely
One
of my favorite quotes is by Elias. It goes like this: “There are no absolutes.”
You have to love that line. It’s fodder for a lifetime of thought.
An absolute is often defined as something perfect or complete or unlimited by
exception or not to be doubted. I define an absolute as something that’s considered
fixed. People often think gravity is an absolute, for example (even though
there are countless examples of how gravity fluctuates).
When I was in high school, I learned the famous equation E=MC squared, and as
it was explained to me I knew instinctively that the equation was incorrect. I
knew nothing about physics at the time. I wasn’t a big math or science person,
and yet I knew to the center of my bones that the equation was flawed
because if time is relative then so must light be. If it’s a perceptual universe,
in other words, then that which is perceived is relative, including light. So,
to me, the equation could only work as a sort of shorthand, if you amended it
to say E=MC(P) squared. The “P” in the equation would stand for “pretend.”
Energy equals matter times a pretend constant squared. That is, you say right
up front that you’re pretending that light is a constant and not assuming it’s
thus. I never said anything to my teacher about my feelings because I had no
idea where my own ideas were coming from and how to validate them, and really I
had no interest in delving into the matter (no pun intended). But I think what
I was experiencing was an intuitve knowing that there are no absolutes. I still
feel this today. The world is quite stable, but not nearly as fixed as we believe
it to be.
Like many NWVers, I like to think about ideas, and the idea that there are no
absolutes is a whopper. If there are no absolutes, then I can sit in my
livingroom and be across the street at the same time. If there are no absolutes,
then I am you. If there are no absolutes, then I can have nothing when I have
everything and have everything when I have nothing. It’s pretty heady stuff,
this idea that there are no absolutes, and I’m always trying to figure out the mechanics
of it while trying to live the idea at the same time.
When I get into a concept, I’ll often have an experience that throws some light
on the idea. It’s these innocuous experiences that are like dots that you begin
to connect to form another view of reality. Here’s one of mine about no
absolues.
There’s this walking path by the ocean where I live. I often stroll it, looking
very serious and unfriendly as I furrow my brow and think. Well, one of the
things I enjoy most about this trail, besides the water and the animals and the
kids and whatnot, is the trees. I love trees, especially the Monterey Cyprus
and the Redwoods. Unfortunatley, I’ve had this odd feeling of protection toward
them because I haven’t quite worked my way through the idea of vulnerability
yet (though I’m getting there). I’ve noticed that there’s a connection between
this feeling of protection and the trees being cut down. I’ve made the connection.
I realize this is a coincidence and, therefore, meaningful, as Kris might say.
One day I was walking along the ocean and I noticed that someone had cut down a
young tree. I’d heard some of the home owners in the neighborhood joke about
cutting down the trees so that they’d get a better view of the ocean, and so
the first thing my suspicious mind conjured up was that some home owner had
come out and cut down the tree. This was my story because I still had that
feeling of protection for the trees. It was as if the trees had no protection
of their own. Furthermore, the city usually puts yellow tape around their projects.
There was no yellow tape around the felled tree, and so it didn’t seem to be a
city project. At least that’s how I justified my tree-victim theory.
The tree sat in its sorry state, without yellow tape, for a few weeks. I thought
that the lack of clean up added credence to my poor tree-victim tale because
the city is pretty good about taking care of things quickly. Anyway, one day I
was walking by that particular spot, looking at the felled tree, and I thought,
“Well, Elias says there are no absolutes. If that’s true, then there’s a tree
here.” I stopped and examined the empty space where the tree had once stood. I
thought that normally, I would say that the tree was cut down, and so it was no
longer there. I’d say that this was a fact, and I’d just have to live with it.
But, in a universe where there are no absolutes, then I should have been able
to create another tree right there in that same empty spot.
But, I thought, what if someone else had an opposing intent? Then what? I went
back to thinking about the no absolutes. If I had complete control over my reality,
then there should be a tree in that spot that no-one could tamper with because
it would be my tree and I would align with a reality in which others had no
intent to tamper with the trees. The trees would need no protection because
there would be nothing threatening them.
Since I knew for a fact that if I was to think in terms of protecting the trees
in the area, I might as well have called in the loggers myself to come take
them down, I realized I had to somehow let go of personal control, all the
while knowing that my intent would be born out. I had to enjoy the trees and
know that my intent to see them grace the coast would create a version of experience
that I would find fulfilling. This was a typical kind of meandering of thought
that I do as I walk, and that was the end of it. I thought no more of it. I
didn’t try to make it happen. I didn’t create any visuals. It was more like I
was working through a formula in my head.
Except that this wasn’t the end of it. The next time I took a walk, there was a
tree exactly where the old one had been. I was astounded. The felled tree, the
stump, and the roots were gone. The new tree was the same type and the same
height as the previous tree. The only difference was that the new tree was
staked, and it was not quite as fat around as the old tree. To me, this was a
small demonstration of the fact that there are no absolutes. I wanted a tree. I
believed it was possible. I let go of control. I got a tree.
I think the idea that there are no absolutes is extremely tricky stuff because
we’ve been taught to try to control things because we believe we don’t already
control things. This makes creating new expectations about what’s possible a
rather big endeavor at times. And yet, I think it’s as simple as expecting
more. I often wonder how far I can take my visions, how far I can expect the
best possible scenario, how far I can enjoy myself, others and the world at
large. I often wonder if I can really love unconditionally and walk in the
comfort of total safety and satisfaction. And then often I answer myself. Absolutely.
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About Samantha
Samantha Standish is a writer and a former intellectual property and corporate law lawyer. She received her B.A. in history with honors, and her B.A. in Spanish with honors, in 1989 from the University of California, Santa Barbara and went on to get her law degree Cum Laude from the University of Maine School of Law. In her legal career, Samantha worked in government and the private sector, most notably in the financial planning and software industry. In her personal life, she’s been married for twenty years and has a fifteen year-old home schooled son. Samantha resigned from the bar in 2005 and has devoted herself to bridge writing (making complex ideas about space/time easy to understand for the average reader) ever since, focusing mostly on self-help articles for artists and writing bridge books on the side. In her words, “The first forty years of my life were fact finding; the next forty years are about applying, expanding and exploring what I’ve learned.” Her books can be found at samanthastandish.com. Samantha’s NWV blog is titled The Magical Life.