Life can be imagined in many metaphors.  Word-images “say” more that any formulaic, extended description, a one-to-one correlation between word/syntax and external reality.  Life cannot be reduced to any logical, rule like convention. 

The metaphor rising in my imagination labeled “life” is the memory of a river rafting experience on the Hood River in Oregon.  There was plenty of white water, and a dozen of us were closely packed inside the sides of the inflated raft, — we became friends of a sort for the ride.  It was important that we cooperate, follow the instructions of our helmsman/guide so that we reach the destination without a cold dunking in the fast moving current. 

This morning, I offer for your contemplation: life is a wild ride, through roiling rapids, with friends, thrown together by circumstance, dependent on the experience of a accredited helmsman.  As a devotee of philosophy, Aristotle, Wittgenstein, Derrida, etc. have been my steersmen that so far, have kept me safe.

I remain in the raft with a motley group of outliers, individuals not unlike myself.

And finally a syllogism:

1. Desire is central
to the human condition.

2. The world is not designed
to gratify our desires.
——————————
Thus, conflict is created

Give yourself a pop quiz…..

a. What do I want from my life?

b. How does what I want force me to change, adapt, dig deeper for insight, passion, or strength?

I just read a New Yorker article, What Jacques Derrida Understood About Friendship by Hua Hsu.  You can find it HERE.