Keep some aspirin handy, this might hurt. Almost as a cruel joke of fate, it seems most of my brightest insights come at times when I have no opportunity to write them down. So it was no surprise that the following thoughts came storming into my tiny brain just as I was in the midst of shampooing my hair in the shower. Not a pen or pad to be found, I only remembered a week later what it was I'd been pondering...

I was thinking about nothing. (No surprise to those that know me personally.) Nothing. "Exactly what is Nothing?", I thought to myself. Well, I know this much, Nothing is the exact opposite of... Everything. Now let's see.. if I considered, for instance, not most but Every grain of sand both on top of and within the Earth, that would actually only part of Everything. I'd have to include all the rocks, trees, animals, people, buildings and shredded love poems that sit in a landfill somewhere. (I digress, sorry.)

Okay, but I'd also have to include the sun, moons, stars, let's say all the solar systems and galaxies that stretch as far as we know and then multiply that eternity-fold for all that we don't know of so that now we have a definition of.. Everything. Now that Everything possesses everything, what's left? Nothing! Hmm. Everything takes up space, but what about Nothing? I guess it wouldn't take up any space. So then, where is it? Nowhere I suppose. But if Nothing is Nowhere, then it doesn't really exist now, does it? Hmm. If I could point at some of Nothing and say, "There's some!", then I'd be pointing at Something, which is less than Everything, but more than Nothing.

Something can be also be Anything, so long as you get it from Everything. I know this much is true because it's pretty much impossible to get Something or Anything from Nothing, although at times I have gotten Something for Nothing which is another Thing altogether.

So there I was, driving down the freeway with a sweet young lady on our return home. It was one of those times when you've finished any on-going conversation and just find yourself enjoying the ride silently for a time. Finally, I asked the following question and the ensuing discussion broke out;

"So what were you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?."
"Mm hmm."
"Must've been Something.. an impression, a memory, how you feel...something?"
"What were you thinking about?"
"Driving. How dark your hair is. I remembered hitting a donkey at this stretch of road six years ago... things just float through, y'know?"
"Yah."
"So what are you thinking now?"
"Nothing"

So now I find myself wondering... "Is it even possible to think of Nothing?" At what point do you eliminate Everything and then concentrate on Nothing? Once Nothing is the center of thought, what does it look like? Does it look like Anything? I'd imagine it can't since Anything can look like Something, but Something can't look just like Anything or Everything. So then it would seem that Nothing looks like Everything, except not really... since there's Nothing to Nothing and Everything has not only Something, but Anything as well.

Well, being as how I didn't have Anything for breakfast I'll just have to think about these Things at a later time. I guess that means I had Nothing for breakfast... but I don't remember having Nothing for breakfast, I had no Time. But there must have been Sometime when that happened, not just Anytime. It's not like this happens Everytime, just Sometimes...

©1999

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