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Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Seam between realties


One of my favorite parts about being at sea is catching the sunrise. I rarely see the sunrise in the city. It's not that I don't rise early. I'm not a sound sleeper. I don't even use an alarm clock. I simply wake up when I am supposed to.

But rising early doesn't necessarily mean you get to experience the dawn. In the city it is masked by realities of life. Blinds are drawn. Minds are shut. We are focused on the mundane.

But on the ocean, it is almost impossible to hide from the dawn.


I think it was my old crazy friend Carlos Casteneda who talked about the dawn (or was it sunset) being the seam between realities. It's easy to believe as you watch the sun rise out of the blackness. It's like a tear has been made in the cosmos. Or it's like a giant eye is opening and peeking in on this crazy experiment. Wouldn't it be ironic if our world is a cosmic ant farm and god is some kid shining a flashlight on our world to see what we're up to?


"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one."
--Albert Einstein
Ain't it the truth?

2 comments:

Naughti Biscotti said...

I think I buy into your idea of God being a child with a flashlight. With all his temper tandrums, jealousy, and giving us the silent treatment.... he must be a child.
You're right about the sunsets going unnoticed in the city. They look much better coming out of darkness rather than the light polultion of the city. And it just isn't as pretty with all those power lines crisscrossing the view.

Time said...

When I was about 5 years old, I woke up terrified thinking someone was shining a flashlight in the window. I hid my head under the cover for about and hour in terror. Turns out it was the sun rising.

City lights also prevent us from seeing stars (though it's rarely clear enough in Seattle to see them anyway). That's one of the things I used to love when we'd go camping as a kid...millions of stars.