Webs of Nature: Exception

This might become a weekly or bi-monthly series, depending on time.

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I see because I choose to see. In my choice I am unique. Yet in all other facets I am the same, a humble husk of complex atoms. I should be heard then because I choose to speak, not because of any status (of which I have none), nor because of my defining features of race, gender or orientation.

I find myself drawn to old straws, ideals of humanity that never quite die, but are just revived in a new light. Peace, equality, opportunity, happiness. Each of these things an aspiration, not always obtainable, yet in each era we reach and try to get one step closer. Now the world is filled with 'facts' and 'phrases' bogged down by the upper crust who hope to obtain opportunity for themselves at the expense of peace and equality, and ultimately happiness.

I have found in the wide world, there is only one true law. One indisputable fact, an occurrence that is guaranteed to happen; and that is an exception. In every situation, idea, rule, law, grouping or cluster; there will undeniably be an exception. This is the state of our being, stuck between zero and one hundred percent; never able to reach either extreme. Even something as universal as the laws of gravity there have been noted exceptions to; out in the darker reaches of space.

I would suppose a rule like this is obvious to even the most moderately educated reader, yet the implications are far reaching. This rule makes even simple communication difficult. For instance, say Bill and Joe are close friends, and are usually able to go out to the local pub every Friday night. This becomes a routine, something that always happens. Since every Friday they meet at the pub, both of them expect the other to show; but one night there is an exception. Joe doesn't arrive. This changes Bill's view. Now Friday night is not a one hundred percent, there has been an exception, and that will recolor Bill's preconception.

This is how humanity normally works, we create routines and choose to live within those routines in order to keep larger parts of our lives uncomplicated; and when something disrupts that routine the effects can range from mild to devastating. For instance, Joe didn't arrive that night because he was in a car accident and died. Friday suddenly is a lost routine; something Bill will want to continue doing, but cannot. Death is just one of many situations that will leave a devastating effect behind.

In another case where preconception becomes a more severe problem, a child Jill, is outside playing. While outside she encounters a honey bee for the first time; curious, she tries to play with the bee. It feels threatened and stings her. Now Jill relates bees with pain, and that can be a difficult preconception to deal with; especially if she chooses to avoid bees for the remainder of her life.

This is a case where balance and understanding are necessary. We as humans, cannot leave our preconceptions at the door and experience each day with fresh eyes. We would never manage to get out of bed. However, we need to be constantly open to the idea of the exception. The world will try to trip us up over the course of our lives; we need to be able to recognize and deal with the fact that the world is much larger than we perceive it to be.

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