Society is an imaginary sphere
in which different processes of signification
interweave and interfere.
The symbolic organization of this imaginary sphere
is an effect of signification.

I define “signification” as the building of a bridge
of shared illusion over the abyss
of the absence of meaning.
Reality, by contrast, can be described as
the psychodynamic projection
of countless mental flows that interweave
and intersect,
building castles of language
that we call different names:
   civilization,
      history,
         revolution,
            community.

…We experience happiness
as the conscious suspension of the sight
of the abyss.
In those moments of suspension,
we can build something:

Bridges over the abyss itself.

Groundlessness, emptiness,
and the decomposition of the body itself:
these are the abyss that all human beings
are experiencing.
But men and women can happily walk over this abyss
if they understand that friendship
resides in the ability
to share the illusion
of meaning.

When the illusion of meaning is shared,
it is no longer an illusion:
it becomes reality.
The bridge over the abyss is the dialogue
that allows for the sharing of a vision,
of an expectation, of an intention.

…Meaning is not a presence, but an experience.
…Friendship is the condition for the experience –
the existence – of meaning.

— excerpt, BREATHING, Chaos and Poetry
By Franco “Bifo” Berardi, p. 145

This is a long quotation, words that demand focus when read.  These are the sorts of words that can change one’s life.

There are words that serve as a lifeline.  Words with abundance of force, that serve to inspire, to light a way forward are context sensitive.  One has to be in a “place” to hear when one is addressed, to answer “present” when one’s name is called.  The words may be a lyric line of a song, or a verse of poetry, or the never forgotten observation of a old school teacher, etc.  You just know when your name is called, and the time is now — that you must act.  And this is what you and I must do everyday, to have a worthwhile future.

The way forward is that of friendship, of forging bonds that are cultivated to become stronger, richer as the years pass, as time continues its relentless passage.  It is enough that we have a shared life that we have jointly built, with others, respecting, making good use of differences of view, of ethnicity, of personal history.  Friendship is the condition for building a bridge over the abyss.

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These words are written with sadness at the loss of Glenn O’Dell a member of the Batavia Socrates Café discussion group. I did not know Glenn very well, — but well enough to recognize his nobility of soul, his curiosity and mindfulness at 94 years of age. Glenn passed peacefully. His absence is felt by many people.