{"id":696,"date":"2012-12-12T14:19:46","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T19:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/?p=696"},"modified":"2012-12-12T15:53:07","modified_gmt":"2012-12-12T20:53:07","slug":"a-conversation-with-the-vast-whiteness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/a-conversation-with-the-vast-whiteness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Conversation With The Vast Whiteness"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not new to snow. But I <\/em>am new to living where it snows right outside your doorstep, and where one is stuck with snow for around 5 months a year. And like anyone who is new to anything, like a child, I spent time watching and being mesmerized by it.<\/em><\/p>\n

So here are a few of the many conversations that I had with this Vast Whiteness. We met just outside my door this morning and went for a walk.<\/em><\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

\u201cThe snowflake is water solidifying into structure,\u201d said the Whiteness as I tried to catch some flakes floating down from the heavens. \u00a0\u201cThe universe is making patterns at the smallest scale. Nature creating micro-art.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flakes landed on my jacket, and as I brought my eyes closer to observe, the Vast Whiteness said, \u201cJust because the snowflake is small and trivial doesn\u2019t mean it should not deserve attention from the universe!\u201d I nodded in agreement, still scrutinizing the flakes on my sleeve and pondering my own triviality.<\/p>\n

I looked up and said, \u201cThere\u2019s a motivational quote I think you\u2019d find interesting. I don\u2019t remember the exact words but maybe: We\u2019re all unique, like snowflakes.\u201d The Vast Whiteness laughed and I laughed along, realizing how tacky that sounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, in theory every snowflake is unique,\u201d the Whiteness said. \u201cAnd beautiful too, geometrically. But snowflakes are not snow<\/em>. They are not snow<\/em> until they are joined together.\u201d I smiled at this idea. \u201cAnd if you humans really are snowflakes, then you are insignificant as single individuals; but you are<\/em> captivating as a group.\u201d He was referring to us as a society. \u201cAs a society,\u201d the Whiteness interrupted, reading my mind. \u201cA single snowflake is fragile on its own. A single snowflake melts immediately. But snow<\/em>\u2026 when all the snowflakes string themselves together\u2026 lasts all winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vast Whiteness was right. We are beautiful together. And strong.<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

As we walked into an alley near my house, we happened upon some children making a snowman. We stopped at a distance and watched carefully for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, the mighty snowman,\u201d the Whiteness broke the silence. \u201cHumans molding snow to create. Humans playing god with the snow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the snowman is imperfect,\u201d I said, \u201cbecause he is a reflection of an imperfect creator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course!\u201d replied the Whiteness. \u201cYou use buttons<\/em> for eyes, a carrot<\/em> for a nose, and raisins<\/em> to make a smile, what do you expect? Those are your only tools to create.\u201d That was true. \u00a0\u201cOh, and you impose a smile on the snowman because you want him to be happy. You force<\/em> the snowman to be what you hope<\/em> to be. It\u2019s as if you don\u2019t want him to experience the sadness of being human.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why<\/em> would we want him to experience our sadness?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

The Vast Whiteness interrupted, \u201cWithout the choice, that snowman is prisoner to the smile. With only a single emotion, he has no emotions.\u201d Those words echoed in my mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut humans do one good thing, I\u2019ll give you that. You put a broom in the snowman\u2019s hand because you understand that if you want to be human, you have to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

I watched the children wrap a scarf around their snowman’s cold neck. Ah, the mighty snowman, created against his will, into a life of labor.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly until the winter is gone,\u201d The Whiteness read my mind again. \u201cThen all the snowmen melt back into the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen what happens?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen they wait. Winter always comes back, and the children always make more snowmen. That\u2019s what children do.\u201d<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

And as we walked across a field, the Vast Whiteness put a hand on my shoulder and we stopped. Pointing to the space behind us, the Whiteness said, \u201cLook! In the snow, your footsteps always remind you where you\u2019ve been, but they never tell you where you\u2019re supposed to be going.\u201d<\/p>\n

I must have looked silly with my big smile. I loved those words. Out here on the snow, the path forward is an infinite number of possibilities. Unlimited\u00a0destinations.<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

Time was running out, I was getting a bit cold, my nose was stuffy, and I had to return home. Nearing the end of the field, we stopped to part ways. But before I left, I asked the Vast Whiteness my last question. \u201cIs it true that Eskimos have ninety-nine words for snow<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I wouldn\u2019t say ninety-nine,\u201d smirked the Whiteness sarcastically, \u201cbut plenty of words, yes!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why is that?\u201d I pressed on.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and I have walked together out here today. Go back home, think about everything you\u2019ve seen and heard in just these two hours. Then write about it,\u201d the Whiteness replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cOk, I will. But then what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen come back and tell me how many words you<\/em> needed to describe it all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not new to snow. But I am new to living where it snows right outside your doorstep, and where one is stuck with snow for around 5 months a year. And like anyone who is new to anything, like a child, I spent time watching and being mesmerized by it. So here are a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Conversation With The Vast Whiteness”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42,24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":700,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions\/700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}