“I Feel, Therefore I Am”

“I Feel, Therefore I Am”

AUG 31 2014 @ 4:51PM

by Dish Staff

Alan Lightman shares the “tentative conclusions” he’s drawn from thinking about how to live with the belief that law, culture, and social codes “have no intrinsic value outside of our minds”:

[U]ntil the day when we can upload our minds to computers, we are confined to our physical body and brain. And, for better or for worse, we are stuck with our personal mental state, which includes our personal pleasures and pains. Whatever concept we have of reality, without a doubt we experience personal pleasure and pain. We feel. Descartes famously said, “I think, therefore I am.” We might also say, “I feel, therefore I am.” And when I talk about feeling pleasure and pain, I do not mean merely physical pleasure and pain. Like the ancient Epicureans, I mean all forms of pleasure and pain: intellectual, artistic, moral, philosophical, and so on. All of these forms of pleasure and pain we experience, and we cannot avoid experiencing them. They are the reality of our bodies and minds, our internal reality. And here is the point I have reached: I might as well live in such a way as to maximize my pleasure and minimize my pain. Accordingly, I try to eat delicious food, to support my family, to create beautiful things, and to help those less fortunate than myself because those activities bring me pleasure. Likewise, I try to avoid leading a dull life, to avoid personal anarchy, and to avoid hurting others because those activities bring me pain. That is how I should live.

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I found that relationships that are over

     Were actually never meant to be.

I learned not to be disheartened, nor

     To restrict myself from falling in love again.

Life is unpredictable, and so very exciting.

     At any moment, a chance encounter may occur.

My heart and arms are open,

     And love will embrace us.

Early this morning, the grey sky

With lighter and darker greys,

Faint sunlight between and delicate lavenders also.

Blue greys in delicate strokes,

And swashes of mauve grey reflected on the bay.                                                          

So bright that sky, in late August,

I gasped at it,

Stood there hardly moving.

Breathing deeply, and wanting

It to not die away.

And, now, as evening arrives,

I gaze across the bay.

The sun fiery over the ocean,

Luminous in its arcing path to the sea.

Rich in color, pulsating,

Breathing fire.

We are held in it, and we smile.

Finished the window frames and sashes, and started the new floor. Color is burnt toast; really quite beautiful. It's coming together...!!!

This rectangular wood block,

     With slanted throat to allow the iron and wedge.

The sole open-mouthed,

     To let what is shaved through.

Thinking back,

     To things hand-fashioned, smoothed.

There are far better things ahead,

     Then what we left behind.

Long ago, I knew would settle on this piece of mind.

     Clearing a site for memory,

          Grading a road to enable the future.

Building a home of possibilities.

I climbed the mountain range and entered the valley,

     Carrying my backpack full of words and fragile stories.

          I had to learn how to nurture my thoughts,

Like planting seeds for future harvest.

I learned how to build with tools,

     And create plumb, true lines that created harmony.

          As I picked up the pen to write,

I felt the land threading through me.

Worked on window sash and framing this weekend with straight grained fir.  The results are beautiful. Not a lot accomplished since precision cutting was required, however, I'm delighted with the results.  Did rough wall finish in the bathroom.  Laid out floor plans for the kitchen: rollout shelving, then refrigerator, more rollout shelving, gas stove, lazy susan storage for the corner, then turn the corner for farmhouse sink and small rollout shelving. Cabinets go in this weekend, and will start the flooring!

Started earlier this year on building my tiny home.  A tiny home can be defined as small, less than 300 square feet, home either permanently attached to a foundation, built on a mobile trailer, or built on a floating platform.  I have chosen the a tiny home built on a trailer to enable a mobile lifestyle.  The tiny home community has grown rapidly in the past ten years, with an accelerated growth in the past two years.  Here are a series of links (in no particular order) to groups, communities and builders of tiny homes:

http://minimotives.com/ 

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tinyhousepeople/ 

http://tinyhousetalk.com/ 

My tiny home, named The Pod, shortened from The Cephlepod, is approximately 168 square feet. Inside, I will have a queen size bed, with storage beneath, a full kitchen with refrigerator, four burner gas (propane) stove, farmer's sink, cabinetry and shelves for storage, and a tankless water heater, a shower and composting toilet, a living area with fold-up end table, and fold-down dining table (which houses a larger TV / PC monitor, keyboard and WiFi), and a marine propane heater. Every material is chemical free.

Attached are photographs showing the exterior and interior, in early stages of building, and progressively more photographs as construction continues.  I hope to have the The Pod completed by mid-October 2014. I continue to look for a permanent site to house The Pod, however, in the interim, I am considering leasing land either in Northern California, Western Oregon and Western Washington.  Should anyone who reads this blog have a lot, a side yard or open acerage, please contact me.

I became my own best friend,
     Always me wherever I go.

I’ll be pleasant with others
     And, often to myself.

Now I’m becoming unbelievably
     Older than I ever thought I would be.

But still with that certain savoir faire,
     That mirrors my inner soul.

I see our true colors clearer,
     More so than others.

And, yet, whatever happens
     We will be together everywhere.

“Do not have too high an opinion of your importance, and have the highest opinion of your duty and your responsibility.”

Leo Strauss, teacher and scholar of political philosophy in the 20^th century

I have traveled afar

     To find my heritage.

          In search of those kings and queens

              Of tanned skin and dark roving eyes.

When I found a roving band,

      They lit their candles and lamps.

          Spinning tales that were old

              And rich in lore and fantasy.

I was born with the look of a traveling man;

     Traversing this land of meadows and mountains,

           Seashores and cities. And, I never

               Found gypsy kings or queens.

Just satin and lace,

      Their horses wild and cattle dogs nipping at the herds.

           Rolling on wagons decorated with colors and symbols,

               And their eyes looked through you, to the find a fellow traveling man.

An open canoe nudged reeds and sand,

She kept to herself the pleasure he provoked.

The undercurrent dimpling as he stroked,

And drifted, slackly moored under his hand.

Turning to him, she let him loose the knot,

Drop the rope, and push his foot against

The pier to lift her free.

Her muscles tensed.

He took her like a sail the wind had caught

And guided her until she guided him.

And, when they were no place that either knew,

Where sky and sea and shadow echoed blue,

They plunged; and were pushed to the world’s rim.

All night the sound persisted,

     Again falls this quiet, ever-present rain.

What is about me that must be remembered,

     Insisted upon so often?

Is it the unease,

     Even the hardness of rain falling will have for me?

Something other than this, something not so insistent—

     Am I to be locked in this final uneasiness?

Love, if you love me, lie next to me.

     Be for me, like rain.

The removal of the tiredness,

     The semi-lust of intentional indifference.

Be wet with a gentle happiness,

 Embrace me with your grace.

By being being nothing you are everything. 

By wanting nothing you are eternally full of grace.

When we realize who we are,

     We no longer have this endless confusion,

          This eternal battle with ourselves.

Thus, we no longer struggle with others or the world.