Ever since I saw the shining star on the Freedom Statue's crown, as bright as a headlamp - I swear it was - I've experienced more than several revelations. Is it a coincidence? I'm a skeptical mystic, always second guessing that which any self respecting shaman would immediately understand as profound. I can't help it. I'm as much a scientist as mystic. It can be a problem.
Wherever they came from, I'm grateful for the revelations. For instance just today I understood all of a sudden why romance has never been my best thing. Not my best thing is a gentle way to explain my romantic history, believe me.
It's ironic to figure it out at this point in life, but I'm glad to have the answer. It's like finding a $20 bill tucked into a pocket where I didn't expect to find anything more than a few coins and a lot of lint. Good to know!
There's a picture of the Statue of Freedom on the Architect of the Capitol's site in which one of the stars is reflecting sunshine. That means it isn't just me and Walt Whitman bearing witness to this vision.
I wonder if the photographer experienced profound insights in the wake of taking that picture, or if, after viewing the "curious" sight, Walt went straight home and wrote something wonderful. Maybe?
Today when I walked past the Statue, I bowed low in thanks for the vision. I didn't try to position myself in the right place at the right time, no. I've given up on trying to repeat the experience. I wish I had looked at the time when I caught sight of it, but I was too enthralled. Probably that is exactly as it should be. A friend said, to be have seen it once: dayenu. Hell yeah.
I seem to have passed through the birthday malaise, thank God. Onwards and upwards.
8 comments:
Honestly that is the most lackluster performance I've ever heard, but the best I could find. Good lord.
I think it's wise to not try repeating the experience. Aren't such efforts almost always doomed to failure? Part of what made it so wonderful and striking was the surprise of it all.
As a mystic, it's almost disrespectful to try, but as a scientist, the attempts are imperative. I'm yielding to the mystical.
O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
The poet and the mystic have a lot in common both have an instinct for the transcendent and enjoy the fleeting glimpses of the mysteries that surround everyday life
it is nice to finally understand the reason behind something that has been confounding you even if you have accepted whatever the situation is. finally understanding the reason seems to make it more acceptable. well, maybe not acceptable but at least understandable.
Christine, that is awesome!
I'm relentlessly curious, which honestly is not always a great thing.
I think it's amazing that you got a photograph, and put it on the internet for us all to see. Thank you!
Really, when you think about all the potential variables involved in that moment, the odds are against you being able to replicate it. You may have the physics of it worked out, but you can't step in the same river twice. That's science. Replication is for simpler things, in the lab.
Rebecca! That is exactly what I needed to hear - from you especially.
This was not in a lab! Oh yeah.
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