Shadow Magic

We travel through Life, each of us, trying to make sense of all around. What does it all mean, we ask, again and again. Never, it seems, finding answer, only more and more questions.

And how do we do this? We do this by imposing order on chaos. We do this by way of a base ten system (ten toes, ten fingers). We do this by way of philosophy and spirituality, theology, ideology, dogma, subjective opinion.

For our efforts, what do we ultimately devine, as we hurl through the cosmos on this particular chunk of rock we call 'Earth'?

Not much. Oh, now and again, we have what we fancifully call 'glimpses' of what It All Means. (According to our perceptions, attitudes, and opinions, that is.) But what do we have for our efforts? Not much. Not really.

But every now and then, well, something happens.

Make that: Something (with a capital 'S') happens. Everything comes together. Every known point in our universe intersects every known point. Every known point passes through every known point in our universe and Something happens.

You know what I am talking about, don't you? Of course you do. Those moments when it seems, for lack of a better description, someone, somewhere, has struck a cosmic tuning fork and the resonation resulting, well. . .

You know what I am talking about. Oh, yes, you do.

If you could follow that resulting resonation back to its point of origin you might find what scientists (those great bags of academic wind and scholastic fluff with funny clusters of letters after their names and titles--PhD, DDS, EdD, DVM) call 'The Big Bang Theory'.

But you don't follow the resonation backwards through time and space. You follow it, as it carries you, albeit briefly, forward.

On what could readily be called a shockwave of entropy.

Am I babbling? Of course I am. So let me try another approach

Every now and then there is a moment when you are liberated. Liberated of time and space. Liberated of deadlines and responsibilities. Liberated of almost everything.

In that moment Something beyond description happens: You fall in love. You get a glimpse of What It All Means. You find your place in Everything.

Then the moment slips away, moving on, doubling back, leaving you to flounder in time-space.

I may still be rambling but you know what I am talking about. Yes, you do.

Awhile back a fellow I know (who also writes film and movie reviews) telephoned me with some news: His marriage was about to come apart, he was having doubts about what he had done thus far in life, and the excrement at the local multiplex was making him think it was time to throw in the towel as a critic, a reviewer of things cinematic.

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