“Step by…

… stumbled half-step twist and slip.”

Order matters sometimes…

Not that I’m not a big fan of chaos, of course.  And sponteneity.  And walking blind into unknown territory, for these are all concepts and activities that I have embraced myself, many times.  And truthfully, I look forward to them most of the time.  Because it’s fun, and exciting, and a thrill-seeker’s joy to be “out there” working without a map or a net…  Adrenaline rushes can be powerful lures…

But still, order matters sometimes…

Because adrenaline rushes are often accompanied by actual pain, physical and/or psychological.  That’s the point, after all;  adrenaline is the body’s way of pushing on when in fight or flight mode.  It allows us to carry on when we are injured, or exhausted, terrified to our core, but we absolutely must continue in order to survive.  But it’s a temporary solution, always.  If we do not find safe refuge before those reserves run out, we will fail.  It is inevitable…

So if those adrenaline rushes precede the actual danger we face, we significantly reduce our chances of success.  At least in those cases where rest cannot intervene between the two.  And in a world where thrill seeking is almost a way of life, our risks are magnified by our inability (or unwillingness) to slow down…

So, yeah…  order matters sometimes…

Take that “message” I received the other day, which said, in part: “…the same words, slightly different order, significantly different meanings…”

Or this dream fragment from this morning.  In the dream someone was reciting poetry (or prophecy), only a single stanza of which I could remember upon wakening.  And in that stanza, I was uncertain of the order of the first two lines.  It was either:

“…And there came into their midst a prophecy… and then there were three.  By the time they were done…  there were none…”

Or:

“…and then there were three.  And there came into their midst a prophecy…  By the time they were done…  there were none…”

So, yeah… order matters sometimes…

You may not personally care whether the chicken or the egg came first, but how you answer that at any given point says much about you internally.  And externally, as well.  For all of Life, all experience circles and cycles in that way, and determining “where” we are can significantly impact where we are “going.”

If it is true that our “selves” are the sum total of our experiences, and that All experience occurs simultaneously, then how we pick and choose that experience, and the order we experience it in matters.  Hence the relevancy of Time, for Time is nothing if not a means of classifying and ordering our experiences.  Not the only means, to be sure, but a most common and effective one we all use…

Without such structure, and the order it brings, we would be hopping about, experiencing, but unable to draw conclusions, or “learn” anything.  Though, perhaps that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  After all, I’m not here to “judge” any one’s journey, even my own, I suspect.  Still… am I truly ready to abandon all such order in my “life?”

Placing my self on the circle of Life determines a “starting” point, and a direction for my wanderings.  Determining “forward” and “backward” seems somehow important to me…

So, yeah… order matters sometimes.

Except when I used to dance, of course, and then order wasn’t nearly so important.  Forward, backward, side-to-side, direction was irrelevant; the rhythm was all that truly mattered then.  The cadence, the step, the swirl and turn; the Movement itself was the pleasure earned…

So yeah…  order matters sometimes…

And then sometimes… it doesn’t…