Something I'd like to be able to do is sing.
The world is a musical place, as you know. In these frequent instances when notes happen by, looping and diving like parties of birds, or tumbling like loosed tree-petals over one's porch roof, what is it that most ought to happen? What is the natural role of the person?
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People are funny. They delight in all sorts of ways; even the most stodgy can be lovable (sometimes the most lovable!). A question like "what is the natural role of the person?" very nearly asks "what is the person?" and of course, the answer is "nearly anything!"
BUT. There are certain things.
Let's take that first paragraph again, not as metaphor, but as real:
You're on the couch with a book by an open window on a warm June day. As above, you can smell sweetness tossed to the wind by the waving trees, and among the leaves' gentle roar you can hear flitting birds. Your book is fantastic--say, Waterland, by Graham Swift--and you're absorbed as hell.
This is a perfect scene (it stands among the most sublime experienced by people), so what most ought to happen, what advancement "you" might have to bring, may be difficult to discern. A bicycle ride with your sister? A banana bread? No, of course not. Nor will you paint a picture or call your best friend on the telephone.
What then? In this moment--literary contentment and wild grapes and dandelion seeds on a breeze strumming the song of summer--what role must you play?
Of all the myriad motions available, of all the earthly possibilities, only one represents the greatest good. Your role is clear:
The dog must be let out.
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When the music comes, your dog and all its slobbery galloping joy must be freed to catapult itself headlong into the garden, the briar patch, and beyond.
2 Comments
Bill - 2011-06-15 05:26:17
Aww. This template is adorable. I love the reptile facts, too...
chris - 2011-06-16 08:46:00
hey, thanks for the comment! i made the design 11 years ago! i sometimes think to update it, but i guess it's sort of a classic.
