We are more than what happens to us or, perhaps more correctly, we are other than what happens to us. We are, all of us, born into a context of genetic nature and genealogical nurture, a culture with language and customs and traditions and beliefs. In spite of all of that, there is a mote of consciousness inside that is, quite in spite of our situation, our mind, our identity, our self. That mind, that voice, is me. It's you. I've always been here, inside, thinking and reasoning, learning and discovering, reacting to the pitch and roll of my situation. This inner voice has been a constant from childhood through adolescence, into adulthood, through things I've done and the things done to me.
It is difficult, in the sensual interchange of physical reality, to see past the situation of a person to their self. Here I sit, a man of a certain age, with a certain look and build, married with three children, working in some occupation, dressed in some fashion, with all sorts of social and familial and cultural strictures that shape and constrain how I might relate to any one of you, how I might appeal to you, what you might think of me, how we might engage, or not engage, with one another. Then, inside, there is me. And there is you.
This is something I enjoy about the online medium, a form of interaction in which I have participated for several years now. Here, if you command sufficient skills of expression, you can relate to other minds without all the other baggage. Some people get along fine in the tangible world and feel little need for such an outlet, but I find it liberating. I don't often write about my situation in life, what's happening to me, what I'm doing. I am more than my situation. It does not define me. I am this voice projecting out into this digital theatre, trying to describe myself and my thoughts and my ideas to you. This voice you hear is that same voice that I've had all my life, the constant of my identity.
And then there is you, us. We might not work as a relationship out there in real life. If you saw me sitting at my table at the coffee shop, typing into my computer, there would be no thrill of recognition. You wouldn't know me. You would probably walk right by. That's okay. The real world is bound up in my situation and I don't really have the time or energy for complicated entanglements out there. In here it's simple, and that works for me. In here we work, we can be friends, your voice and mine.
Hello, friends. I hope you're well. Are you?
Later. Love.
