Conversations For Transformation:
Essays Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard
Conversations For Transformation
Essays By Laurence Platt
Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard
And More
Can You Just Look?
Andretti Winery, Oak Knoll Appellation,
Napa Valley,
California, USA
October 9, 2011
Can you just look?
Can you just look at a tree and not see
just ... another ... tree ...,
can you just look at a tree and not see there are really so many trees
there's nothing remarkable about just one tree, can you just look at a
tree and not want to look around it, can you just look at
a tree and not want to move it so you can see what's behind it, can you
just look at a tree and not wonder who's going to rake its leaves and /
or its needles come fall or pay the tree company to cut out its
mistletoe, can you just look at a tree ... and ... just ... see
...
A TREE!
Can you just look?
Can you just look at a beach and not see
tides coming and going because of the phases of the
moon
waxing and waning as it orbits
Earth,
can you just look at a beach and not see sand on the shore because of
water's grinding action on shells and rocks and coral, can you just
look at a beach and not see waves rising and breaking because of
yesterday's storm somewhere near Japan pushing currents toward and over
the shallowing shelved ocean floor, can you just look at a beach ...
and ... just ... see ...
A BEACH!
Can you just look?
Can you just look at a sunset and not see
light refracting through mist and cloud molecules according to
prismatic and spectral laws, can you just look at a sunset and not see
just another sunset, just another interlude between day and
night hardly worth noting, hardly worth commenting on, can you just
look at a sunset and not ask is it the sun going down? or is it the
Earth
going up? and how do
planets
orbit around the sun anyway? and it is centri-fugal force
or is it centri-petal force which stops them flying out of
orbit?, can you just look at a sunset ... and ... just ... see ...
A SUNSET!
Can you just look?
Can you just look at a person and not see
their hair is out of place or they're overweight or need teeth
whitening, can you just look at a person and not see the clothes
they're wearing aren't what you would ever wear because
their colors don't complement their aura and their style
is so yesterday, can you just look at a person and not see
they're unattractive or attractive or plain or good looking, can you
just look at a person and not judge who they are or their upbringing or
their intelligence because of their accent or the way their voice
sounds, can you just look at a person ... and ... just ... see ...
A HUMAN BEING!
Can you just look? Can you get everything out of the way,
can you get yourself out of the way, can you put
everything aside, and just look?