Tuesday, January 29, 2013

You can't take it with you

Yesterday I first said there was no such thing as perfection, but in the same sentence I suggested maybe it does exist, but only for a quantum second, about as long as the life span of a Higgs Boson particle. As I typed that sentence, one of my fundamental beliefs shifted before my very eyes. I love it when that happens! There IS such a thing as perfection, but it does not last! Perfection, according to the cosmology of Reya, is fleeting.

Steven Weinberg talked about the Higgs Boson a few years ago, before the breakthrough discovery last year at the Hadron Collider. His talk was named "The Standard Model, Higgs Boson: Who Cares?" I love a sense of humor, don't you? Here's what he says about the lifespan of a Higgs Boson:

Traveling at about half the speed of light, they don’t even make it to a few trillionths of a centimeter. And you have to realize that you get one Higgs particle for every trillion collisions. 

Higgs Boson particles are not built to last - nope. And yet they are called the building block particle of our reality. It's so interesting to think about. Here is a link to the article about Dr. Weinberg's talk.

Is perfection some kind of other-wordly harmonic moment that comes and goes in the blink of an eye in our reality? I wonder.

I'm wondering if perfection really isn't that rare after all. The problem is that it's gone so fast we don't have time to study it, to understand it. We like to understand. Sometimes we don't even have time to enjoy perfection. We look back on it afterwards, realize what has just happened and try to enjoy our memory of it. It's so sad when that happens.

I've experienced perfect moments in relationship with others so many times, on so many different levels. I've also experienced perfection at least a few times anytime I'm walking, taking pictures. I even experience flashes of perfection when cleaning house, only when I'm really in the mood to do a good job. While cooking. While working, oh my yes. I sense many Higgs-Boson producing collisions with clients. Certain works of art, encountered at the perfect time, can trigger the creation of Higgs-Boson particles of perfection. So actually, perfection is always present, Higgs-Boson moment to moment.

These moments come and go so quickly. I'm inspired to redouble my efforts to pay closer attention to the seconds and minutes, as well as the hours and days, of life. I don't want to miss anything. For the remainder of the time I am a part of the Higgs Boson reality, I would like to notice when I'm colliding with perfection.

Am I too ambitious? You tell me. Shalom.


Kerry said...

Oh wow. Thank you! I think you're right! Perfect moments. I know they exist because I've experienced them too. They tend to happen when I'm not expecting it or working at it.

What a great post Reya.

I have no doubt that you will collide with perfection for many long years to come.

Steve Reed said...

Perfection is an utterly subjective thing. What I sense to be the perfect moment will not to you register as anything at all. I think it's more a trick of our perception than an objective reality.

But I know what you mean about attaining a feeling of perfection at certain times when you're immersed in work or you encounter an artwork. It may not really BE perfection, but it's enough to experience it that way, isn't it?

Reya Mellicker said...

I don't believe in objective reality.

If I'm having an experience of perfection, it really is perfection. Oh but it's gone so fast! Hence, I long for more of it.

That's today's thought.

Rebecca Clayton said...

I love the idea of collisions with perfection!

Whitney Lee said...

We do a family thing where we each tell our favorite thing/moment of the day. I've just realized that those moments I relate are the little bits of perfect you've just described.

Deborah said...

It is an interesting philosophy that perfection is somehow bound by time.

Deborah said...
