We begin in the middle...

There's no good place to start but the middle. That's where we are anyway, right? We've all been around x number of years already, so many things have happened, there's nothing to do but just jump in.

So who am I and why am I writing and why is my blog called "spaghettification"? Well, it's something about the fleeting nature of life. It will all I'm sure develop as I go. Very few, if any, creatures will ever experience the horror of having the matter of their existence torn in every direction at a monumental speed by the very force of the universe itself. But many of us will experience the pain and confusion and shock of having essential elements of our lives change irrevocably instantaneously.

Years ago, someone told me that these kinds of experiences produce contrition. Faced with our helplessness to prevent these monumental changes from taking place, we feel in a very real sense how small we are. And it's humbling. Some people don't want to experience contrition of that sort, because it is just too disturbing. It means letting go of the myth that we are the center of any universe, and questioning whether anything that happens to any of us means anything in the grand scheme of things.

But my friends, I know it's Saturday night, in the middle of the summer, and nobody should get too bummed out about anything at such a time. It's a good night for a romantic comedy, or an action movie. Not a good time for examining my place in the universe. Maybe there's never a really good time for that. But I'll cut to the chase and tell you that in the macrocosm, on the big stage, I feel pretty secure. I'm not always good on the small stage, dealing with people, handling my feelings for the people who mean something to me. But put me in front of the Grand Canyon, or Niagara Falls, and I feel pretty good. We live in a beautiful country, even with whatever has gone wrong or continues to go wrong around us. Events are unfolding just as they are supposed to.

There's a block party on my block here in Brooklyn, and luckily my bedroom is in the back of my building, because the party is loud! I'm at that crucial moment of the evening where facing me is the decision: do I stay in and have a quiet evening, or get ready and go out somewhere for dinner, etc. (maybe see a movie or what have you). It's warm and sticky out, but my room has air conditioning. Anything could happen.

So here I am, in the middle of summer, the middle of my life, the middle of a thought. Happy to meet you.