Brigitte, this was like a philosophical buffet. I took a plate and still went back for seconds. What I especially love is how you’ve managed to weave Jung, Sartre, and Nietzsche into a cozy little quilt that feels personal, like the inner monologue we all wish we had on our walks. Thank you for making the big, unwieldy questions feel less like a burden and more like an invitation
Your words are so sweet. Thank you, Kuriakin. For this essay, it felt a bit challenging to weigh the personal and observational parts, and which one to prioritize (if that is needed?). I love your buffet idea—I guess that was in a way intended...I hope the food didn't get too heavy ;)
“Like shimmering white pebbles scattered—and patterned— in the dark, do life’s more glimmering moments quietly guide us toward where we are meant to go?” What a beautiful image and question. Bravo, Brigitte!
"In the midst of it, though, life to me could feel less like a path and more like a mess, seemingly one stroke of chance after another. In hindsight, I couldn’t help but wonder if something deeper was at play. Could life follow an intelligent rhythm, akin to serendipity or even synchronicity?"
I've long had a pet theory of coalescence—that things sync up. You know how when you're walking on the sidewalk, and someone is walking towards you, and there's a tree or telephone pole that makes the sidewalk narrower at a specific point, and you just KNOW you're going to meet at that narrowest point? That synchronicity feels accidental, and maybe I have a confirmation bias, but...idk. I'm with Jung on this one.
And an addendum on meaning: imo, meaning is something we decide for ourselves after an event is over. It fits nicely into the narrative-making that we seem wired to do.
I often see meaning as a sense of "justification" for why something turned out in a way that wasn't what we had hoped. What was the "meaning" in someone getting cancer. Or the "meaning" in missing that chance—and so on.
You don't seem to come down one way or the other on this, but I'm inclined to believe that meaning is just, well, narrativizing. Editorializing. Things happen because they happen: whatever reason we attach to them is our own peace/sense-making, but it's not the true "reason."
Jake, I LOVE your belief in the value of narrativizing and editorializing! We humans might as well take advantage of our bias to story-telling, and realizing "the power of the reframe", of choosing our own perspectives on events, is so useful in life.
There's a lot to love about this essay! You had me with your subtitle - life is like starting a drawing. The first part of your essay has beautiful imagery - swallowing chalk, traversing a great landmass, all those scattered pebbles.
The second part is so thoughtful. I especially loved your expansion of McGilchrist, that attention is the most moral form of love.
I'm going to bookmark this and return to it, especially as I venture more into works about the psyche.
P.S. You should absolutely tag Tom Morgan in this piece! I'm sure he would love to read your thoughts.
I’m glad you sent it to him! You should still tag him within your essay with the (@) so that your readers can be directed to him/be linked across Substack, it probably helps drive traffic back to you too :)
So much here to savor, but this . . . "synchronicities, he argued, are “an ever present reality for those with eyes to see.” . . . from Jung just keeps coming back into my mind after reading your essay yesterday. I mean really, if we could step back and take in the phenomenon of the universe and our place in it freshly, like a newly landed alien, would we not be in a kind of permanent awe, fitting to one who observes an unusual synchronicity? This entire thing we have landed in and on, human life, on planet earth, within this solar system, is nothing but a massive cascading synchronicity. Anyway, appreciated your whole article, and wanted to share how this nugget is wonderfully working in my attention.
Yes, I feel you are right, Rick. It's beautiful how you tie and see the connection to the sheer incredible idea of each one of us placed into this universe. "This entire thing we have landed in"—yes, exactly, right!? Thank you very much, this beautifully expands this topic/essay in my mind now too.
Brigitte, this was like a philosophical buffet. I took a plate and still went back for seconds. What I especially love is how you’ve managed to weave Jung, Sartre, and Nietzsche into a cozy little quilt that feels personal, like the inner monologue we all wish we had on our walks. Thank you for making the big, unwieldy questions feel less like a burden and more like an invitation
Your words are so sweet. Thank you, Kuriakin. For this essay, it felt a bit challenging to weigh the personal and observational parts, and which one to prioritize (if that is needed?). I love your buffet idea—I guess that was in a way intended...I hope the food didn't get too heavy ;)
“Like shimmering white pebbles scattered—and patterned— in the dark, do life’s more glimmering moments quietly guide us toward where we are meant to go?” What a beautiful image and question. Bravo, Brigitte!
Thank you so much, Rachel! Your feedback has been invaluable. ✨
This right here:
"In the midst of it, though, life to me could feel less like a path and more like a mess, seemingly one stroke of chance after another. In hindsight, I couldn’t help but wonder if something deeper was at play. Could life follow an intelligent rhythm, akin to serendipity or even synchronicity?"
I've long had a pet theory of coalescence—that things sync up. You know how when you're walking on the sidewalk, and someone is walking towards you, and there's a tree or telephone pole that makes the sidewalk narrower at a specific point, and you just KNOW you're going to meet at that narrowest point? That synchronicity feels accidental, and maybe I have a confirmation bias, but...idk. I'm with Jung on this one.
And an addendum on meaning: imo, meaning is something we decide for ourselves after an event is over. It fits nicely into the narrative-making that we seem wired to do.
I often see meaning as a sense of "justification" for why something turned out in a way that wasn't what we had hoped. What was the "meaning" in someone getting cancer. Or the "meaning" in missing that chance—and so on.
You don't seem to come down one way or the other on this, but I'm inclined to believe that meaning is just, well, narrativizing. Editorializing. Things happen because they happen: whatever reason we attach to them is our own peace/sense-making, but it's not the true "reason."
Jake, I LOVE your belief in the value of narrativizing and editorializing! We humans might as well take advantage of our bias to story-telling, and realizing "the power of the reframe", of choosing our own perspectives on events, is so useful in life.
There's a lot to love about this essay! You had me with your subtitle - life is like starting a drawing. The first part of your essay has beautiful imagery - swallowing chalk, traversing a great landmass, all those scattered pebbles.
The second part is so thoughtful. I especially loved your expansion of McGilchrist, that attention is the most moral form of love.
I'm going to bookmark this and return to it, especially as I venture more into works about the psyche.
P.S. You should absolutely tag Tom Morgan in this piece! I'm sure he would love to read your thoughts.
Lily—thank you! This makes me happy, and I did share this essay with Tom :)
I’m glad you sent it to him! You should still tag him within your essay with the (@) so that your readers can be directed to him/be linked across Substack, it probably helps drive traffic back to you too :)
So much here to savor, but this . . . "synchronicities, he argued, are “an ever present reality for those with eyes to see.” . . . from Jung just keeps coming back into my mind after reading your essay yesterday. I mean really, if we could step back and take in the phenomenon of the universe and our place in it freshly, like a newly landed alien, would we not be in a kind of permanent awe, fitting to one who observes an unusual synchronicity? This entire thing we have landed in and on, human life, on planet earth, within this solar system, is nothing but a massive cascading synchronicity. Anyway, appreciated your whole article, and wanted to share how this nugget is wonderfully working in my attention.
Yes, I feel you are right, Rick. It's beautiful how you tie and see the connection to the sheer incredible idea of each one of us placed into this universe. "This entire thing we have landed in"—yes, exactly, right!? Thank you very much, this beautifully expands this topic/essay in my mind now too.