I will admit there is a discipline with writing that sometimes escapes me; not due to lack of experiences, want to communicate or even writers block but instead because once you leave a moment to write about it or find internet or step out of the moment you are outside of the experience and it is not leading to the next one but a pause, which is so much of the point of what I want to explore through this project. This lead me to think about a favorite philosophy I studied in college: Martin Buber’s concept of the I-it vs I-thou (or I-you). The I-thou is that ultimate moment of connection where there is nothing else on your mind, no thoughts of what you are going to do or say next, no inner dialogue about what you are observing or participating in, it is the purest moment of being involved with what is around you. The I-it surfaces the moment you lose the connection to whatever “thou” or “you” that you were engaging in that moment with. It’s that instant loss of connection: when you go from all consumed and completely pure and primally connected to someone, something or lost in one’s surroundings to “snapping back to reality” and being able articulate thought and context on the experience.
“No purpose intervenes between I and You, no greed and no anticipation; and longing itself is changed as it plunges from the dream into appearance. Every means is an obstacle. Only where all means have disintegrated encounters occur.”
I won’t lie – or invent some inconceivable incredible out of this world journey. Let’s be honest, it is real life, not a fairly tale. Every moment, flight, drive and new city hasn’t been that intense, that connected. They couldn’t be or there wouldn’t be a “one” that are more or less so and how would I get from one moment to another; but even stopping to write about an inane observation, a spectacular piece of art, a sunrise or a great overheard conversation that makes you take notice takes you out of the moment. But the I-thou or I-you cannot hold the same weight or meaning without the I-it. Now that might not resonate with everyone, especially if you are “live in the moment type” but stay with me.
We often say the good comes with the bad and working for something just makes it better…sweeter somehow. This is not in order to make us feel better about life. It’s context. I believe it’s because we live in a world of qualifications, of “grass is often greener.” So much of what I’m looking at is if we qualify our lives this way, if we are often just content but if some other “grass is greener” why are we not always striving to be better, to be our best, to be our happiest? Because sometimes the work to get to that better place is hard and that is not all human’s human nature.
If every moment was an I-thou, if we related to each other and the things around us in the primal way that animals do without taking things to the next thought, next step: if we took in every word someone said, every sunrise, every beat of music and never stopped to think about it, talk about it, contemplate it or most importantly create from it then there would be no advancement in the world, no context. This context, this separation between the primal sense of connection to that around us and the intellect and step back moment to push forward it what separates us from animals and it what has lead to the greatest art, music, literature and accomplishments that shape the world we live in. So I’m back and here comes context, contemplation and hopefully inspires you all to create. Create beauty, create innovation and create the best next move for yourself.
Have any of you had a moment in the last few weeks that you were so enveloped and engrossed – something primal that enraptured you so completely – that you can close your eyes and it’s as if that pure moment without any interruption – down to every breath, heartbeat and feeling – is replaying in your mind? If so, please share.
Pause Explore 