Every molecule, every thought, every movement, everything exists inextricably from its opposite. Bad is unrecognizable without good, up only looks that way if you also have a down. Existence is inherently a continuum of counterpoise, of counterbalance, of diametric impulses and behaviors, forever swirling and confusing, a grand ride if you have the stomach and energy for it. With the impetus to create a coherent, single personality that fits tidily into a certain box, we humans often ignore the fundamental duality of our lives. To embrace the spectrum in each of us is to reflect the cosmic reality underlying our society.
The eternal pursuit of peace and contentment is only a worthy, edifying goal if one can learn to accept that neither of those ends will be truly appreciated, may not even exist, were it not for the stinging blows of gut-wrenching sadness. The stillness of a calm day is made all the more poignant by having recently suffered through the onslaught of an atmospheric or artificial maelstrom. To cope with those lowest moments, those temporary or persistent depressions, it is helpful to view them as the psychological prerequisite to joy, whether limitless or fleeting.
Disoriented, discombobulated, and low for a bit this autumn, I was thankful to have multiple well-wishers express their concern, their wish for my happiness. Counterintuitively, it was these benevolences that made me understand that I had to live with, maybe welcome, the internal ugliness. A gentle revelation, or perhaps re-revelation?, overcame me. I was pleased to discover a little deepening of my understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. Viewing it, feeling it in this manner even served to accentuate the bliss of our Parisian summer, an ecstasy that preceded the inevitable fall into malaise. It was a connection that I should have seen coming. But, I was not sad to have been reminded, yet again, that all was yin and yang.
Divided into groups with countervailing beliefs and impulses, we are fulfilling part of the mandate for counterpoise, but are forgetting that the opposing factions should be symbiotic, not mutually destructive. One must recognize the validity of one’s counterpoint, because one’s very point could not exist without its opposite. By now, we should have learned that there are many people that think completely different than we do, that view the world in an opposite fashion. Since we should not be surprised to meet our opponent, we should concentrate less on trying to change their mind and more on reconciling the conflicting ideologies, on seeing the beauty in the panoply of human consciousness.
It is the gravest of folly to succumb to the ease, the laziness of making one’s counterbalance into one’s enemy. While it may not be possible to reach a perfect equilibrium, there is so much more to be gained by seeking cooperation and mutual understanding of opposing parties rather than literally or figuratively razing the ground upon which disagreements sit. Conflict has been an undercurrent from the first humans, but it cannot be said that the battles ultimately served to better the species. It may behoove us to try a different approach, one that already corresponds with the innate underpinnings of our universe.
Let us give ourselves a break as well. Under the principles espoused herein, it is totally acceptable to be both free-wheeling and self-serious, to be at once extroverted and nervous, to be a fast person that goes slow, to cry when happy and laugh when gutted. It is all possible.