”Home” and “away” lost all meaning long ago, becoming a false dichotomy. “Furthest” is likely presumed to mean the most distant in space, but that is not always the greatest mental distance. Sometimes a place changes while you were away, and that shift through time becomes the most jarring distance.
Big enough to live in it; small enough not to live for it.
Preferably, it teleports on a regular basis, so I don’t have to — you know— live in one place for the rest of my life.
I poop. Surely, I would have exploded in my youth if I hadn’t developed the habit. I feel my quality of life as a human must be better than the quality of life of gut bacteria in wall-spattered fecal matter. At least I have the leisure and capacity to contemplate such things.
Upon the road of my life,
Passed me many fair creatures,
Clothed all in white, and radiant.
To one, finally, I made speech:
“Who art thou?”
But she, like the others,
Kept cowled her face,
And answered in haste, anxiously,
“I am good deed, forsooth;
You have often seen me.”
“Not uncowled,” I made reply.
And with rash and strong hand,
Though she resisted,
I drew away the veil
And gazed at the features of vanity.
She, shamefaced, went on;
And after I had mused a time,
I said of myself,
“Fool!”
When tigers chase, I run. When sunsets glow, I sit and watch.
EPIPHANIES.
But, if you think about it, writing is miraculous. In the scheme of gifts that nature grants, it is way out beyond left field. Encoding ideas and images in simple characters in a way that can evoke emotional or cognitive responses in readers is kind of a superpower. (As is reading.)
Curiosity. I exist in a state of perpetual perplexity. For example, is curiosity an emotion? If so, is it a positive one? I know it includes a feeling that drives me to make a decision or take an action, which would be an emotion by definition. But I don’t see it on a list of emotions. I consider it positive, but I also try to avoid putting value judgements on all things. Maybe it’s neutral. Can an emotion be neutral?…
Experiences and lessons.
If I can spark the occasional smile of amusement or trigger a line of thought once in a while, that’s enough. In the long run, it’s all dust. (That latter commentary was more on the thought-provoking than the amusing side of the equation.)
His steady sails he never furls
At any time o' year,
And perching now on Winter's curls,
He whistles in his ear
Tiger Riding for Beginners 