Esta publicación también está disponible en: English
If our waking day starts with “breaking news” and checking social media let’s be honest, there is nothing unique going on. We just blew our most precious commodity, time. I’d defend my actions saying it wasn’t wasted time, yet in terms of meaning, all that input was relatively unimportant.
A personal email that morning from a loved one sharing a private moment, however, would be very important. By choosing to send that message to me personally, and not as part of a “group” communication, the sender demonstrated it’s meaning was special, and so was I.
Essence, I believe is at the core of life. It has many meanings and facets. When we communicate in speech, written word or digital format and convey deeper quality, substance, and spirit we reveal something fundamental and hopefully unpredictable. How wide a gap that content is to the daily flood of information and shared knowledge we let in.
The broad meanings of essence ranges from dictionary usages to life experiences. Each of us has a personal belief of what we feel is fundamental and at the heart of the matter.
I wonder if people we identify as geniuses posses an essence? We hear mature operatic voices from nine year-olds, as well mathematical formulas, and violin solos that bring us to tears. Why? Are we emotionally recognizing the unique purity of the artist’s very core? How does such magical DNA assemble in some humans and not others? It seems we have to strip away so much superficiality to get to the truth of a message or event. We could prattle on about a leader we don’t trust but perhaps at the essence of that unpopular figure is the inevitability that their presence will result in change. Perhaps a rebalancing from extremes and chaotic behavior to a level of peacefulness and compassion will result.
Outside our three dimensional existence are other essences. The vibration energy fields that surround and pass through us are the domains of sub-atomic particles combining to become the physical objects of our world. For example, I gaze through my picture window knowing that its core substance is silicon dioxide, sand. Fundamental to all living things on Earth is carbon, an element whose atom is so cooperative it can join other atoms to become a graphite pencil or when under pressure for a few million years, a diamond is born. I weigh one hundred and fifty pounds and am twenty-seven pounds of carbon. I’m a diamond in the rough or a pending fossil fuel. All dead plant and animal stuff turns into oil, coal and natural gas. Not exactly my idea of the answer to searching for the meaning of life.
Eckhart Tolle is quoted as saying the essence of whom we are is found in the word ‘soul’. I accept the definition that soul is a part of me not limited by my physical body. That leads me to believe the soul is immortal and lives on after death. The seeming interchangeability of the words soul and spirit has been debated for eons. The Bible connects spirit to God and the Divine. Soul is generally considered as our individual essence physically or in an afterlife.
I’m not a philosopher or theologian so unraveling ancient languages and meanings isn’t high on my “bucket list.” Time is my most important resource. Experiences are the building blocks of who we are. What in our human nature is fundamental to that process I wondered? And there it was! Wonder! Curiosity! Seeking Answers! Have I considered that! Asking Why?
When I cease to have the spirit of inquiry I shut down the core of my senses, desires and needs. Rumi provided me with the insight that “Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made for the eye of one who sees.” How we use the information tools technology provides will add meaning to our essence. It may be one of the keys to expanding happiness in our busy lives. Let’s enjoy the journey and not focus on the destination.
