Strange Vessels

Our bodies are strange vessels.

We identify with a state of being that is tangible and stable, but that is not entirely so. Our size and shape changes constantly. We perceive ourselves as solid – we are and we are not. When we touch something solid, we stop. But we have many cavities throughout our body. The pocket inside our mouths. The passage to and inside of our lungs. One could also argue that there is the space between the atoms. That being said, these cavities are efficient beyond anything made by humans. When we close our mouth, the tongue and teeth and jaw and roof of the mouth contract into a perfect tightness. Our bladders expand and contract depending on the liquid they hold.

Our bodies change frequently – changing temperature with sickness. Gaining mass with food consumption and loosing mass when we excrete. We shed skin cells and hair. In my case lots of hair. Our hair and fingernails grow. Our skin changes color when we bruise or burn. In our younger years our size changes dramatically in short periods of time. Through childbirth, a woman’s internal organs will change location. We get wrinkles with old age.

And oddly, we usually use this constantly changing vessel as the basis of our identity. We look in the mirror and obsess over the color of our hair or the shape of our nose. We forget that this body is just the container for our consciousness. We think about the color of our eyes more often than we consider their role in visual perception.

So if our bodies are only the exterior shell for our true being, what are we? What is the deeper meaning of being human?

I have more ideas to jot down on this subject, but must end this article now because I’ve needed to use the restroom since writing the part that says “Our bladders expand and contract depending on the liquid they hold.”

Collective Consciousness

After posting my first blog, I found myself thinking a great deal about this urge to put my thoughts up on the web. Why do I feel an inclination to put my ideas up for review and open myself up to comments that could be potentially very negative?

In order to answer that I need to go on a relevant tangent - lately I have been thinking about the internet as an abstraction. We turn on a computer and look at the screen and ‘link in’ to a vast collective consciousness. We view many peoples’ ideas, emotions, entertainment, and humor. We communicate without ever opening our mouths, and sometimes I imagine that it appears telepathic to other animals.

We are The Borg.

What can be found on the internet is nothing short of amazing. Anything you could possibly think of can be found in some form on the web. You want to learn to tune a banjo? It’s there. Curious how to earn more money? It’s there. Want to learn how to sleep only 3 hours each day and still feel rested? It’s there. Want a loan? It’s there. Want free stuff? You can find it. Curious whether there are others with your same weird interest? There are. It’s rad. What’s more, things you would have never thought of are there, too.

I personally feel like that I have gained a great deal of value from the web. I get tons of entertainment, and a tremendous amount of information online. I frequently download audio books from my local library free of charge. Much of my communication is done online, instantly.

Although in general, my contributions have been very small. I am in general pretty self-conscious about writing publicly, and have mostly been what they call a ‘lurker’. Now I am trying to get past that, and contribute to the larger consciousness.