Cosmic-Ice-Breaker

Recently, one student in my creative writing class shared insight into her life during ice-breaker introductions; her response to the ice-breaker prompt of exploring one's heart's desire resonated with me on a deep level.

While saying she still wanted to enjoy life in this present moment, she also described how she cares about her future and setting up her later-on life by making sound choices and good decisions now, in her teenage years--to have a "set future" as she called it, which I took simply to mean a future, a future life one could rely on to some degree, temping fate and randomness.

Then she added something unexpectedly profound: wanting and hoping to connect to the infinite and lasting while realizing, "everything I do will be wiped away by time." That idea caught us all by surprise. After a short time, I offered that perhaps "everything" isn't wiped away, but I felt disingenuous suggesting a more specific answer to her dilemma.

I think of her notion as a bit of a mixed blessing; wouldn't that realization take off some of the immense pressure to which we humans often subject ourselves about things that really aren't that important? Maybe that this thing that seems so giant in the present moment really won't amount to much once washed away by some infinite river of time--OK, but while that might help, it doesn't really speak to her question. How do we connect with something greater???

I thought perhaps should I direct her to the Stoics and "Memento Mori'? Stoics and their followers have used that realization of ever-present death and mortality as a charge to act and to decipher what is vital and meaningful to oneself and to honor these deeper values, no matter what life throws at us, in fact in spite of what life throws at us--a personal code for living, or living well with that eventuality that everything turns to dust.

That might help, but she's seeking something deeper, I think. Although her realization and implied questions are important; perhaps something she'll spend her life exploring, I can offer, in a muddled, but somehow still oddly confident way, something about acts of kindness, moments of oneness and union, experiences when we transcend the obvious limitations of the human form--tapping into some other place, for lack of a better word--something more than this life's matrix-like quality, the structure of what we call reality--I know there's something more, but trying to put it into words or even concepts isn't easy. Fact is, our human perception is genuinely and severely limited, so why do we trust this reality so absolutely anyway? And even if we find the land beyond the yellow brick road, when we come back to earth, will that trip have really changed us or anyone else in any profound ways? The current state of the world might indicate "no" since many travelers have gone before us and come back to this black and white world without effecting dramatic changes, but there are subtle shifts and moments, when put back to back, that lead us somewhere different and perhaps better?

Just a few less-than-brilliant tips for would be inner-space travelers like her: the body is a vehicle, not an impediment. There is a physical connection to this infinite cosmos linked within our human experience. Conversely, when seeking guides and fellow travelers, look beyond their immediate or obvious physicality--soul mates along this trip will come in all shapes and sizes, ages, races, genders, etc., and sometimes the one's who might be most important to you might seem most unlikely candidates.

Approach the way with genuine integrity and compassion for others--helping others is one way we change ourselves. 

The present moment is the infinite we seek.  The link to making all of this happen is to be completely present, to have access to all that we are in this moment, with these people, in this place--meaning don't think you haven't got what you need for the journey right here and now, already.

Nature will often bring you out of this fake human matrix--experience it. more about the fake human matrix?

Keep doing the work, whatever the work is for you. And when you find nuggets of experience and wisdom, let them pile up and add up to something greater than the sum of the parts, like a bank account accruing compound interest. Just do the work and keep hope alive, always bolstered by your unique and personal experience--the experience is not flighty or merely subjective--that's your validation and your currency, like a salary for your work--don't cheapen it; treasure it and let it build upon itself.

Basically, let the path take you where it leads, however much faith is implied in that directive. You will find signs and navigation techniques along the way.

That's all I've got in this moment.