THE HUMAN CONDITION
November 16th, 2023 | San Francisco, CA
An odd mixture. Almost like crossing a riverbank. One with stepping stones. A skip here. Another there. Then a pause. A glance. Backwards- forwards. A small, contemplative moment. A reprieve. A long exhale, preceded by a shaky pull of cold, sharp air.
I shiver. But not from a dip in temperature. No- it’s internal. A thawing, of sorts. Deep in my chest. A rattle. Something coming loose.
I try to shake it off, but it’s not quite coming off. Like a monkey on my back. It’s hard to describe. A thumping.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
I press my hand over my heart.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
It pounds. Clear. Loud. Expectant. For an organ whose primary function is pumping blood, we sure do attribute many existential qualities to it.
I blink awake. At the riverbank again. The art of description. Understood, mastered… What can it yield? How do I describe how I feel? What I feel. Words. Phrases. Verbs. Adjectives. That’s what those are for, right?
Then why the difficulty? Shouldn’t it roll off the tongue? Like it usually does? Maybe it’s my mistake.Thinking such a complex and complicated thing can be… Described.
Does one describe love? Adequately? Or death? What about life?
What about life? What about it? Huh?
Well? Describe it to me. Can you? Adequately? You holders of advanced degrees. Venture capitalists. Philosophers. World travelers. Leaders of Men.
Who out there can claim expertise on the human condition?
What I need- has it always lain at my feet, all this time?
