fifteen minutes

In fifteen minutes I must drive children to school.

I have so much stuff rumbling through my mind right now it's tough to settle on just one. Most of it centers on differences of thought: processes, viewpoints, attitudes, and mostly why people think the way they do. But maybe it doesn't really matter why we all think so differently. I'm trying hard to be all zen about it and think in terms of "there are as many paths as there are people." But that's vacuum thinking. The problem with it is that our paths cross. And sometimes people cut down trees and stack them on others' paths. Or they redivert paths to join up with their own, and several steps in the poor sap realizes, Hey, this isn't my path! Where is my damn path??

I guess it's no secret why the Celtic Knot symbolism for my Sentinel Series, and why Aidan refers to the future as "paths." I think a fatalistic approach is a fucking cop out, actually, and there's constant conflict between people who want Aidan to just tell them The Way and Aidan, who knows there are many Ways.

Yesterday on Fuckbook, I mentioned that I am more comfortable with questions than answers. I further pontificated that I think it's the basis for the Great Divide among people. I hate politicians because they are all about Answers, not Questions. In fact, I am very leary of people. Ditto, in this way do evangelical Christians bother me, and people who fly planes into buildings, and the guy trying to sell me a new car. Not one of them put their focus clearly on Questions when approaching others, and in this way, they step on others' paths. Incidentally, I realized one of the reasons I like my priests so much is because their homilies very often focus on questions and don't presume to answer them for me, but give me stories and thoughts and let me make my mind up for myself. Ditto great fiction. Now THAT'S Christlike. Plus, I really need to go to church cuz it's been several weeks.

So I guess my question for the day, for me and you, is how well are you keeping on your own path while staying off others'?

6 comments:

Beth Partin said...

My path is wandering all over the place. But in the midst of the traveling and blogging and copyediting and photography, I'm trying to find my way back to a regular writing habit. It seems to be taking a long time.

Nighfala said...

Honestly, I am so far off my own path right now I might as well be in China. I don't even know myself any more, and i don't know if it's my poor work/sleep habits, the meds I'm on, or my complete lack of religious life lately. But I gotta find me again somehow.

I feel like Faldur on the boat.

ssas said...

I guess if you're not happy you do need to find your path. But I've made a lot of transformations like that where I ended up in a much better place. Come to think of it, the old path was usually where other people wanted me and then I got on the path I wanted, which sometimes ends up in a collision of paths...

ssas said...

Beth, you're on one of the coolest paths I know.

Chris Devlin said...

It's always been my greatest challenge, to stay focused on the stuff I say I want to do and not get sidetracked by nonsense (usually fighting The Man). I've been doing better at this lately than at any time in my life before. So, yay! But it's a constant struggle.
Love your term of endearment for Facebook. ;-)

ssas said...

Hi Chris!

Yeah, I don't know how people hold down real jobs and write at all. A regular schedule and cubicles kills my creativity dead.