I'm standing in the shower. Water falls on my face, over my closed eyelids. I can see the shadows of the water through my lids. It's February, and the hot water is soothing. I've finished shampooing and soaping up. For all technical purposes, my shower is over. I remain simply for the pleasure of the experience. I turn the handle warmer. Warmer. And then, just for an instant, the water hits that divine degree wherein the rushing current is hot enough to perfectly scintillate my body. A step beyond and the ecstasy would sharply turn to pain. I've hit the sweet spot. Oh, for that moment to stretch on...
But it doesn't. Our apartment never maintains its hot water. Just as soon as the moment arrives, I find my inner being saying, "Wait!" as the water cools and my momentary bless is replaced with the terseness of lukewarm water on a cool night.
C.S. Lewis seems to be hinting at this idea of joy and longing whenever he talks of experiences of pure "northernness". These are moments that appear to me to be satisfied by something other than the stuff of life. They are filled by the weighty presence of a dark matter, wholly undefinable, but nonetheless immensely present.
Wikipedia (and I more or less am using wikipedia here as an analog for the entire information-at-your-fingertips way of life) is a tremendous resource. It makes me fill powerful -- I can know about just about anything I want by pressing a couple buttons.
But Wikipedia de-northernizes information as well. It takes the dark matter out of the equation.
I've started this blog to remind myself and put into writing little savorings of stories. I am focusing in on people, because I'm confident that human souls will forever remain to complex and too "northern" to ever be satisfactorily captured by a plain text rundown.
Finding answers on wikipedia is (and will forever remain, I reckon) tempting, but despite its awesomeness, lacks any sense of awe towards the characters and stories it depicts.
That's all.
No comments:
Post a Comment