On Being Human

The human condition is such a strange experience -- to be swept along in this surging river of sight and sound and taste and smell and touch.

Our interior landscapes can be even richer and more turbulent than the physical ones we inhabit. If we tried to take in everything contained in just one moment, the flood would surely drown us.

That's why we have consciousness. Consciousness is one of the ways we limit the universe so it doesn't overwhelm us. Consciousness only lets in as much as we can handle.

Time is another way we keep from being overwhelmed. Time is like peering through a narrow window.

The best mystery for me, though, is that we're here at all. What an intense thing it is simply to be.