Conciousness does not exist within a void.
There are others, so close we can almost touch them, were our arms longer or our gait swifter.
Standing still, they move around us, brushing past with a multitude of thoughts swirling round and round, inexorable circles of logic, streams a mile wide, chasms waiting to be filled, tumbling waterfalls of information, emotions, meaning.
All beyond our reach.
Only by grabbing hold of another one of these fountains of thought can you interject yourself into that flow. Stand in front of one with thought patterns that look interesting, and thrust your hand into the current.
Most of the time, we bounce away, our streams clashing and hissing, polluted with annoyance, bad humor, stress.
Sometimes the streams swirl at angles vaguely complimentary to each other. These individuals you can stay connected to, maintaining a part of their current for your own, part of yours for them. With time, the currents may even flow through each other, their waters no longer fighting and tearing. The waves can be minimized, and your thoughts and the other's can flow generally unhindered, small pools remaining your bastions against total fusion.
I've never experienced it, but I've heard about it:
People who, upon meeting, fall into the streams of the other and find themselves at home. Two systems become one, two courses which were never meant to be apart return to the same path. The level of connection and understanding reached by these people is a sight which causes envy in those too sallow to understand it, and painful joy in those who appreciate it, but cannot yet understand.
I want that level of understanding. I think I see that stream, a few feet ahead of me....but I don't know if I can take the plunge.
If you have the opportunity, don't hesitate. Share Yourself.
|extensive pipe usage|