Along Borders

lj-tags: philosophy, life

“Besides, interesting things happen along borders – transitions – not in the middle where everything is the same.”  Neal Stephenson 

 

So why is it, then, that in life we seem to always be taught to try to get to the center rather than linger on the borders?  Everything is pushing us to the center and judging us by our ability to blend with whatever is in that center?  Yet, it is never still, always shifting, changing, like nucleus of a cell pumping through the heart of a type A executive who is one more gadget away from the center, so that all your attention and energy must be focused on that center to reach that goal. 

 

In the meantime, we miss everything else.  

 

I always thought it was just my lazy, procrastinating nature that kept me from making any progress towards the center.  I linger on the fringes, walking the borders of worlds like a tightrope, living in the spaces between cells, occasionally rubbing up against the fluid walls, and eye or an ear sneaking a peek as to what is going on inside.  However, the effort to get in always seems a bit more that it’s worth.

 

In the nucleus, you have to conform to certain ways of functioning.  Outside, there is room to swim and experiment. 

 

It’s not always easy. You must be adaptable and open to bumping up with all the other border fringe, with those whose functions are also undefined and who are definitely not center material.  The longer you hang on this fringe, the more susceptible you are to being seen as suspect, as unstable, irresponsible.  Your life will never have the illusion of stability, of sameness.  

 

Then one day, for a fleeting moment, you will realize you are a center, but not one surrounded by sameness.  The next moment, the transitory nature of the border will whisk you along to the next moment remind you why you love living where the interesting things happen.