Center

Bright Eyes, At the Bottom of Everything

In 1506(ish) Copernicus figured out that the center of the universe was not the earth, but rather the sun.

I have made some equally important discoveries lately:

The center of the United States is Kansas (see thrilling pic).

The center of North America is North Dakota.

The center of a fruit is its life giving seed.

The center of our body is our heart (more or less).

The center of a seesaw or a merry-go-round is crucial not only for the physics behind it to work, but is also crucial for transforming a wooden board or a metal circle into hours of fun.

The center of our living rooms are our televisions.

Next time you go into one, see if it is. I don't mean that the TV is in the geographic center of the room (obviously that would be ridiculous because only half the room would be able to see it, right?). The TV is definitely the focal point, however. Every piece of furniture faces it. Often the entire layout of a room is constructed around where the television must go.

Is this strangely unsatisfying to anyone else? Or do I just have an abnormal dislike of TV?

It seems at one point in our history, the center of a room was the people in it.

Some people may say that we are living in a world where boundaries are blurring into one another and where everything is connected, which results in a loss of centers. The internet is a prime example.

Sure, there is no center to the internet, but there is most definitely a center to your activity on the internet – where you spend the most time – probably facebook.

Socio-cultural researchers tell us that postmodern generations are no longer linear. We are defining ourselves and connecting and thinking in more fluid based networks. We live in webs rather than the assembly lines or corporate hierarchy of our parents.

With this change comes gains and losses.  It impacts how we think about ourselves and others, especially concerning the centrality of our lives.  Although something such as priorities (which are too rigid and structured and linear) may be lost in this thinking, even a web has a center. It may be a self constructed center and everyone may have a different focus, but it is nonetheless a center. (And face it, even priorities are self constructed and differ from person to person.)

That center becomes the foundation of all that we do. In the tangled, confusing mess of our lives, that center holds us together. It is not something we give attention to first before moving on to something else, nor is it a place to provide escape; rather, it is something to color and give meaning to all we do.

Unfortunately, we build our life webs around such a center, most of the time not knowing what that center actually is.

What's the center of your life?

The labyrinth is an ancient tool of reflection – often self reflection (but I think if you do it with enough honesty and humility, you will realize that reflecting on yourself is much less important and fulfilling than focusing on other things). It fell out of use when humans thought we could be better at (or at least get paid for) being aids to self reflection – yes, that was a jab at psychologists. But the labyrinth is still very useful and I would encourage you to try one out.

If you can't find a full sized one, try tracing this one with your finger. Slowly trace into the center and then back out. Focus on what the center of your life is and whether that is a center that can truly hold everything else together. Is it really life giving? Is it really valuable (with lasting value)? Is it true to yourself or is it imposed and self masking?

After that, you can go ahead and make your check out to Dr. Patrick...