The morning swallowed the shifting lights spread across the landscape. They wavered and then disappeared as the darkness overtook them. Clouds blotted out the stars and the rolling fog took care of the rest. Nothing existed beyond the puffs of my warm breath in the cold air. The silence of loneliness thundered and echoed in my mind.
Just one of the tricks we allow ourselves to be deceived by.
The lights, the noise, the teeming masses of civilization were still there even though they couldn’t be seen. But that brief moment when the world goes dark is enough to send our thoughts into waves of panic. The what of our simple routines crashing down were replaced by the how of the struggle of survival to come.
The entire course of our existence changes in that instant of doubt and fear.
The fog lifted and the glare of our presence, the sheer volume of the evidence that we are here, that we are alive, that we matter, temporarily blinded me with its sharp contrast to the darkness that previously held sway. The clouds moved on, and the stars twinkled in response and mockery of our feeble displays of might.
Our stubborn ignorance and naiveté are what keep us from slipping over the edge of insanity.
The promise of the sun softened the darkness loitering on the horizon and I fell back into my daily routines. All was right. All was well. My path and purpose in the world were true to me again. Careers and love and the pursuit of happiness regained their position of prominence. Nothing mattered more.
Even when the sun blocks our view of them, the stars laugh at our ignorance.
I played my part in our economical game of charades dutifully and then made the reverse trek to the square of concreted nature I call my home. I hugged my wife and played with my child, emboldened by smiles, laughter and fellowship. I went to bed content that I was living life to the fullest. I wanted for nothing. I mattered.
Just another trick we allow ourselves to be deceived by.
The Matticus Kingdom 