Steady as she goes...

The balancing act is easier if you know you aren't going to fall. Is this what hypnotism is for?

So much of life is accompanied by vertigo - the feeling that you're about to fall into a gaping abyss, the feeling that you might jump, and/or the realization that there is no abyss and that you might just crumple to the floor instead.

"Ignore it," says Bolderdash. "Why let such things into your mind? You need all of your energy to live, to move forward, why do you insist on tearing the floor boards out of your boat and then moan about sinking?" To which I reply, "How can you deny the vastness of the universe and the folly of our certainty?" To which B says, "Man, you gotta rethink this thing now. Just because you can perceive a bigger picture doesn't mean you have to carry the universe around on your shoulders. Perhaps it feels honest to embrace hopelessness and letting go, but isn't that just a side effect of an obliterated focus and a shaky horizon line?"

How does an earthquake survivor in Haiti allow himself to bulldoze bodies into a hole today? Is it the hundred bucks? Or is it the unswerving determination to move forward?

Bleak thoughts and the rush to find their opposites on this rainy Tuesday.