Mysteries of Life

When I was a kid, thinking about the universe made me sick at my stomach and a little dizzy. I’d have to put my head down on my desk and close my eyes. I couldn’t bear to think of the vastness of space. I knew then that my brain was too limited to comprehend it.

Now I no longer feel that sickening awe, or any awe at all for that matter. I’ve come to accept the whole thing: vastness and my limited ability to comprehend it. Thus, I am able to read Jim Holt's new book, Why Does The World Exist? for entertainment. After an introduction, Holt presents various people's views on the intersection between physics and philosophy with regard to existence.

The book is intended to be a gift for Logan’s birthday, which was a month ago today, but he is in the midst of a three-month tour of European cities and I couldn't resist dipping into his book last night. It seems to be built around the questions posed by Heidegger in his Introduction to Metaphysics, “Why is there something and not nothing?”

It’s a goofy question in a way, but on a much lower level it has me thinking about why there are so many somethings in my house. I wish there were more nothings. I’m wearied of trying to keep track of possessions, such as the mouse traps we couldn’t find earlier this week.

Things have gotten out of hand because we have lived in the same house for 36 years. If  we had moved from house to house we wouldn’t have accumulated all of these somethings. We had another house in Lexington, Kentucky, for six years in the early part of this century and accumulated a good many somethings there, too, bringing many of them back to our Kansas home when Dennis left the University of Kentucky. So, you see, we are in quite a mess of somethings.

Today we are going to tackle the basement and start making nothings out of somethings. Why, indeed, is there something rather than nothing? Just because we’re too lazy or preoccupied to let it be that way, that’s why.

Wish me luck.

OK, I'm back. Dennis and I spent two hours in the basement, each working on the projects of our choosing. I chose to clean, categorize and inventory the pantry area. Right away I realized that the shelves were not organized for ease of use, so I moved most of the somethings around, replacing old newspaper shelf liner as I went. Toward the end, Dennis had finished his project of assembling a set of new shelves and carrying out old computer equipment for recycling, so he pitched in to help me finish by moving all the empty canning jars to the bottom shelf.

I'm happy with the results. Most of the food is on the top two shelves, in a clear line of sight and easy reach. There's a drugstore section now, a cleaning products section, and, almost filling the bottom two shelves, canning and freezing equipment and supplies. I love it! (If you want to see the photo full size I think you can double click to see it in Preview.)

During this process we gathered a big bag of recycling in addition to the computer equipment, a big bag of trash and a box of food to donate to the Social Services League. I've started a Craig's List list of unneeded food-related equipment such as the soy milk maker that is too hard for my hands to use. And if anyone needs canning jars, I have way too many and will be happy to pass some on.

So, at the end of the day, I feel virtuous (mostly) for having brought order to one small part of my life. I did discover that the case of canola oil I ordered last week was not needed because I already had seven big bottles! Maybe I should go into the pie business until I've used all of this oil.

Best of all, we have more nothings than we did this morning. Now, back to the book. I hope this abstract view of the universe coupled with the long eons of geology will keep me distracted from the current news. And maybe tomorrow we will devote two more hours to turning somethings into nothings.