Dear You,
With no expectation (and little hope) of increasing my wealth beyond my pension, my chief source of income now is time . . . a dwindling resource, one to be hoarded. As a result, I have no wish to spend it in occupations I dislike.
In recent years I have been declining invitations, and I have done my best to avoid the company of disagreeable persons. I leave it to others to increase someone's happiness in those instances where I can find better uses of my time.
For instance, by finding time to be alone. As it turns out I enjoy my own company; I have learned that solitude has nothing whatsoever to do with loneliness. "I'm bored" has not crossed my lips -- perhaps ever. Certainly not in my memory. And I am astonished to hear it from others. Indeed, it is one of the litmus tests about someone as to whether I might like to spend time or energy on them: "Tell, me. Under what circumstances are you bored?" Any answer but 'None!' would be the wrong one.
It is a crowded and noisy world -- I need no more distractions as I continue to search for what nourishes me.
Showing posts with label companionship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label companionship. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
S E T I
Dear You,
Somewhere in the West there may still be standing an array of curved metal devices, all pointed at the sky, and each programmed to "listen" to whatever electronic signals may come to the Earth. Scientists set them up in a Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, or SETI. The idea is that we are not alone in this universe. Perhaps we are not. We don't yet know.
I thought of those "dishes" today when I noticed that one of my blog posts had attracted a comment. It came in from across the Atlantic Ocean, farther from my home than I have ever travelled, so I guess it qualifies as "extra terrestrial" to me.
Perhaps when I began writing these snippets of prose, these reactions to the daily flow of my life, I wondered if anyone would ever see them. Now someone has, and I perceive them as little satellite dishes, aimed outward and listening for reactions. Over my lifetime I have sometimes wondered how solitary is an individual -- no one's trajectory through time and space is like anyone else's; we begin somewhere and we end somewhere else . . . a bit of matter whizzing through existence. Sometimes we have company during our journey, and sometimes we explore on our own.
When I spotted that return message, I was filled with a sense of companionship. It's good that we aren't alone.
Somewhere in the West there may still be standing an array of curved metal devices, all pointed at the sky, and each programmed to "listen" to whatever electronic signals may come to the Earth. Scientists set them up in a Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, or SETI. The idea is that we are not alone in this universe. Perhaps we are not. We don't yet know.
I thought of those "dishes" today when I noticed that one of my blog posts had attracted a comment. It came in from across the Atlantic Ocean, farther from my home than I have ever travelled, so I guess it qualifies as "extra terrestrial" to me.
Perhaps when I began writing these snippets of prose, these reactions to the daily flow of my life, I wondered if anyone would ever see them. Now someone has, and I perceive them as little satellite dishes, aimed outward and listening for reactions. Over my lifetime I have sometimes wondered how solitary is an individual -- no one's trajectory through time and space is like anyone else's; we begin somewhere and we end somewhere else . . . a bit of matter whizzing through existence. Sometimes we have company during our journey, and sometimes we explore on our own.
When I spotted that return message, I was filled with a sense of companionship. It's good that we aren't alone.
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