Walter Pater inspires thoughts of nature and cycles

"Let us begin with that which is without --our physical life. Fix upon it in one of its more exquisite intervals, the moment, for instance, of delicious recoil from the flood of water in summer heat. What is the whole physical life in that moment but a combination of natural elements to which science gives their names?" Walter Pater, Conclusion

Let us begin...with the physical. This class is primarily dealing with the mental and spiritual epiphany, so thinking about the physical world as an epiphany may be stretching the mind. But the physical world can often cause the epiphanies--many rely on nature to cause that life-turning moment, such as climbing to the top of the mountain, or the sudden shift of wind and element, such as with Ratty and Mole.

Dr. Sexson mentioned something about how, in order for many amazing or important epiphanies to happen, something dark must happen first. There is no story without a conflict, indeed, no life without a conflict.

This is true in nature as well. To reach the "delicious recoil from the flood of water in the summer heat," first we must live through the cold winter first. Except if you live in Florida...but even a year-round humidity-soaked state has seasons, or seasonal-like changes. Nature relies on change, on the death and life cycle. I'm sounding a little Lion King-ish but that movie was kind of wise for a Disney move. The life and death cycle is ever-present in T.S. Eliot, too, in my section, East Coker. While my lines for memorization are primarily dealing with death ("Beneath the bleeding hands we feel..") they are also dealing with rebirth. For some, rebirth is the afterlife, and Eliot, in this part of East Coker, agrees: "And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse." Does this mean we must die to truly live?

Take the Greeks. They only gave themselves one chance. While much of their life was based on fate; in fact, the Three Fates measured and cut the string on birth, choices were still a large part of life. Because, after the string ended, they had only the horrible fate of Hades ahead, and the forgetfulness of the river Lethe. So you had to make the most of what you were given.

It doesn't matter what you believe, we all go on, and we all end up part of the earth. Maybe it is as basic as the Lion King; maybe we all become part of the earth, that thrives on the death cycle. Is this an ending of existence, or rather the ending of life?

If you're reading this, thanks for listening to my ramblings...stay tuned.