Circles and squares

Sun 1.19.20

Naming the four directions forever boxed us in, which limits one's possibilities. And why choose four directions instead of a triangular set-up, or a circle? We have a need to bring order to what surrounds us, the unknown. We know that we are on a planet that is part of a solar system, that there are other systems beyond ours, and beyond that? And beyond that? Stephen Hawking once said, and I'm paraphrasing, that he believed, scientifically, that there are other life forms out there. But, he said, we shouldn't be too quick to reach out to them. Just look at how we've turned out. They would want our resources. It would be like Columbus landing in America. Not a good day for the Native Americans.

Circles and squares (with squares I mean to include rectangles,) rule our perceptions. Look around you at this moment everything is boxes and circles, from the room you're sitting in, to the cup of coffee at your side. I had a friend who built himself a geodesic dome as a home for him and his family. It looked hippie-ish, but that was because he was a hippie, which explains part of it, then there's the parceling off of space in a circle, not something that lends itself well to a world of square houses. A round house is the most intimate of living arrangements. There are no corners to hide in. One is always drawn to the center. A round table is more intimate than a square. Think of the demand at peace negotiations for round tables. The proposition being,  There are no leaders here, we sit as equals side by side.  With a gold band we seal a relationship.

A guide on my journey, is the intimate relationship I have with my dreams.  Once I understood that dreams communicate with me, and how they do so, I took them seriously. A dream once spoke to me of circles and squares. Circles represent the psyche gathering its forces, insulated, vulnerable. Perfect squares, the dream asserted, is its resolution, the force gathered in the circle, now mature, names its boundaries, i.e. a square. The rectangle is seen as representing the unresolved, the unbalanced. The dream was teaching me how to understand the symbols it uses to communicate with me. Even dreams speak in terms of boundaries, in, out, right, left, up, down, are all significant. Animals seem to be part of the circular world, as are many indigenous people. With a keener relationship to the earth they live on, they have a more realistic appraisal of the in's and out's of circles, how their circle enriches and protects them.

I live in the world of Stephen Hawking where all of life is one mad, ravenous slaughter from the amoeba on up. I would find it hard to live in a teepee, without privacy, without the possibility of being alone. The personality wants to assert itself in our world. Give me the box and the corners.

The favorite essay this month has been, André Gide