Super collider

It is said that all that there is or ever was once began no larger than the nail on your smallest finger. You can imagine how difficult it was to find a quiet corner to think. So the invention of something called nothing was extremely revolutionary at the time. Which, by the way, had to be invented right along with all that nothing. It was just as true than as it is now that you can’t get nothing without paying something. Time is the debt nothing pays for all the expansion it insists upon.

As a practical matter, and really, what is matter if not practical – with it we can not only do stuff, we are stuff. Matter is what matters to matter – you can tell by the way it wishes to get back together. Just like in the old days. The real old days. People, being made of the stuff, also like to get together. And like the stuff on the very smallest of scales, they resent being pushed too close – push them enough, and they’re bound to push back.

It’s a good model to build relationships on. Think of yourself like the nucleus of an atom. All the relationships in your life are like electrons that surround you – your parents make up part of you, call them the protons and neutrons, that essential part of you without which you wouldn’t be at all. Siblings and other immediate family members are the closest to you – until you get old enough to shuffle them off to another ‘ring’ if need be. And sometimes, let’s face it, it needs be.

Some of the electrons, also known as friends and co-workers, will orbit around you as you will around them – the important thing is to recognize how close to the nucleus they will be held. When one is young, the electron cloud is dense and hot – just like at the beginning of the universe. Friends and co-workers are precious and interact with the nucleus with ease and candor.

This generally does not last. For some it does. Most, however, find themselves expanding, filling up their personal electron universe with space – often seen as a bad thing, as past friends move away, surfing their own personal waves of expansion. While it may pain the heart to lose those once dear, expansion brings its own rewards. It allows room for others to interact who otherwise could not or would not.

If one is very fortunate, they find a complementary atom, one that fits so neatly into the orbit of the other they become a singular compound. The fusion of these elements is often accompanied by much light and energy. The same is true if the fusion is torn asunder. Sometimes it wastes away by slow decay, losing half of itself given enough time. Truly stable partnerships are nearly indestructible and even if a parting is inevitable, affection and respect never disappear.

Dealing with the loss of a family member or a cherished relationship is a quick way to expand – the loss is an emptiness, a nothing that looks to be filled. It is paradoxical, but it is often the case that the greatest growth occurs within a great loss.

No matter what arrangement you may find yourself in, remember that most of the other atoms you encounter – as nothing pays its debt in time – are also looking for a warm hearth to orbit, someone to show them what other configurations in space and time are possible. We all pine for that special electron that will expand our nothing. Which is to say, those that excite and elicit from us our own special light.

Remember, sometimes it is up to you to be that person. Don’t be afraid. Find the right one and you’re gold.

From the Journal of Peratae Bogomil