returning

"Truth lives in the overlap of our souls."

I can't remember who said that. Kahil Gibran, I believe.

I'm going to go sketchy on information here, as I can't find what I want. Anyone with information, let me know.

I once posted this as a comment on Ben's blog:

I can no longer remember what culture this was, but I believe it was a Native American culture that said that doorways were sacred. It was the fact that if you stood in a doorway, you were neither here nor there. You were in between. Doorways, and all the other in between places, were sacred to this people, for the simple fact that they allowed you to be somewhere, somewhere else, and nowhere at the exact same time.

What else qualifies as an "in between place"?

When you're flying home from camp, miles above the earth.

When you wake up in the middle of the night and the dream carries over into your waking mind.

When a loved one is lying on their death bed, somewhere between this life and the next.

That magical bit of time just before you fall asleep, when body memories and body imaginings (which are one and the same) come flying at you... When you feel as if you're falling, or as if your roommate is throwing stuff at you, even if you don't have a roommate any more...

That painful time after a community has disassembled, and you're there where they should be, but where they aren't.

Reading a book. Surfing the web. Talking with a friend on the phone, or on IM.

Standing in a doorway.


"Truth lives in the overlap of our souls."

Truth lives in that place that's neither me nor you, neither him nor her, neither we nor they.

Find those places. If you have any good stories about them, share them, if you can, with those you trust. Propagate meaning.

I'm done being preachy.


Night Vision - Suzanne Vega

By day give thanks
By night beware
Half the world in sweetness
The other in fear

When the darkness takes you
With her hand across your face
Don't give in too quickly
Find the thing she's erased

Find the line, find the shape
Through the grain
Find the outline and things will
Tell you their name

The table. the guitar
The empty glass

All will blend together when
Daylight has passed

Find the line, find the shape
Through the grain
Find the outline and things will
Tell you their name

Now I watch you falling into sleep
Watch your fist curl against the sheet
Watch your lips fall open and your eyes dim
Blind faith

I would shelter you
Keep you in light
But I can only teach you
Night vision
Night vision
Night vision

I think I'm almost home, now. Almost out of this in-between place. I'm savoring it while it lasts.

-lelandpaul