Stuck in the Muck and Mire

Was it Thoreau who said an unexamined life is not worth living? I thought it was him, but a quick peek at "Walden..." didn't show me any such quote I surely must have underlined when I first read it years ago. But Thoreau is a rough skim, and maybe it was in something else he wrote. (Or perhaps someone else altogether.) I'm tempted to reread him soon - I'll let you know if I'm wrong.

Anyhow, whoever said it, I always kinda liked that idea, thought it fit right in with my way of thinking. But the older I get, the more I think the opposite might also be true: an overly analyzed - overly examined, if you will - life, is almost impossible to live. Just ask Sylvia Plath...

Seems when it comes down to the marrow of my existance, I reach a paradox - I find it’s too mucky, too sticky and gooey to pass through easily on one of these introspective forays. Or, on my more trying - or tiring - days, the bones of my existance seem dried out and hollow - any attempt at an exploration then and I just fall right through. Hello, anybody home? Reminds me of a poem I once wrote, still trying to come to terms with. (Which, being human, I probably never will.) Which brings me to my point: look too long and hard, and you’ll get stuck in the marrow, never look at all and you’ll never get a chance to see what may or may not be in there anyhow...)

Maybe its just existential anxst, or maybe I just have too much time on my hands. Probably it comes down to something as simple as this: I’ve just never been good at creating a real center of balance in my life. (Ok, I’m going to resist - that's a blog for another day...)

Anyhow, without blowing off a lot of other things I should be doing right now instead of this - and risking getting stuck more in the marrow, this little whisper of a thought has suggested to me that I try using this need for balance as a way to motivate me back to the blog page. Using a relatively minimalist approach (for me) I think I'll try simply blurting out a thought or two for the day, keep it short (again, for me...) and then, well... carry on. And that was my thought for this day.