Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Sparks of life

Soul, psyche, life force... Whether or not these are merely human constructs, I can at least understand why people would think that they exist.

Sitting in QV the other morning, a sparrow flew right up to me, brave and timid and inquisitive all at once. While watching it, it struck me just how full of life it seemed. I could easily believe that there was something, some force lending to this creature such animation...

...Perhaps a little spark of life within, or marionette strings in constant motion, controlled by a puppeteer of the universe. If this is the case, then death would be the snuffing out of this spark, or the severing of these strings. Certainly, death is as sudden and absolute as either of these motions.

I see this 'animation' now all the time... when I watch my cats, or birds outside, or even children running down the street. Perhaps this liveliness and animation has something to do with self-consciousness, or the lack thereof. I rarely see this spark of life in adults. Perhaps we have become too accustomed to the world. The only time I really see it is when people laugh. It is known to some as the language of the soul, after all.

5 comments:

  1. You call this rambling????? This is literature! You beast! You're good!!!!

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  2. The reference to QV suggests to me, you're the sister still living in Melbourne, Alison.

    I'm here through your sister Jessica's blog, and pleased to meet you, Alison. I'd dare to suggest that the soul, psyche, and life force are as you suggest human constructs but they have a way of reflecting themselves in animal behaviour as well. Anther human construct, this tendency towards anthropomorphism, but who cares, it's fun to imagine.

    I look forward to reading more of your thoughts over time.

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  3. Hi Elisabeth. Nice to meet you too :) Yes, am the Melbourne dwelling sister.
    Have to admit that on a practical level, I believe that the 'soul' is just a human construct. It just nice to romanticise about other possibilities.
    For me, things get a wee bit sticky when trying to distinguish between 'soul' and consciousness. Am currently reading about near death and out of body experiences, and the scientific possibility that consciousness could operate independently of the body. Bizarre, fascinating and slightly spooky stuff, really...

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  4. Oh that we could bottle the spark of that sparrow! You have an interesting blog!

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  5. That was beautiful...It tells me that you look at the world with a pure heart. The heart of a child. :) I came to visit via your sister's blog...

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