Archimedes once said “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” While this statement has an admirable motivational sentiment, I tend to consider this lever-bearing scientist’s idea with a different perspective. It’s not the world that’s meant to be moved, it’s us.
Movement is often judged by concrete fact and quantified with statistics crunched by a calculator. Whether it be undeniable evidence that someone moved from one end of the room to the other or an astronomer’s chart tracking the orbit of the earth over the last year, we like to be able to step back and say to ourselves “Yup, I can see it.”
Granted there’s nothing wrong with wanting that proof, but it only addresses one dimension of movement. For some it’s just easier to pay attention to what’s happening on the outside and to prescribe to a norm that always has the “right” answer. Unfortunately, that means forsaking the movement that can occur inside of us, where it cannot be seen.
Movement is more than just the act of doing. It’s not about making sure there is a witness or recording hard data. Real movement involves the ability to bend willingly to fate and follow its whimsy. This is done not out of submission, but rather out of curiosity and awareness. Don’t we always end up somewhere for a reason or meet someone for a specific purpose? It’s never apparent until after the fact, but we are always moved by the experience. More often than not, powerful moments are ignored because they can’t be plotted on a graph or validated by some scientific principle. Sadly, this leads to many missed opportunities.
C.B. Wentworth 