Try it yourself

This blog is about 2nd person encounters: me and some Other addressable directly or implicitly as You. That means it's not just about what I think or feel, nor about some it not me, but about us. If I write about my grandson and water, it's in part about us and the liquid.  If I write about a convention, it's in part about me and the self-governing people of this commonwealth. If I write about ants, it's in part about we humans and you insects.

The French philosopher and writer Alain, teacher of some of the greatest names in French literature and thought, Sartre, Weil, Malraux, favored a improvisational kind of essay called a propos, a conversation, a talk. I intend these remarks to reflect something of that discursiveness, density, freedom of association, expressiveness of voice.

Except that sooner or later I come back to something addressable in 2nd person, whether it be that exquisite dogwood on the first Esplanade island down from the Mass Ave bridge, the one covered completely in massed star-shaped flowers slowly turning from white to light pink, or the Juneberries in front of the Charles/MGH T station that are so disappointingly mealy this year, or my student back from a week out sick and still looking awful, or friends moving and in need of help. Because these, you, constitute my world, encounters with you create webs of mutuality that are in substance, the fabric of lasting value.

So let me address you who from time to time have perused this blog, and invite you to reflect (in written words if no other way) on your 2nd person encounters.

I think you'll find, as I have, this gives you a very particular perspective on your life. You won't feel pompous or fraudulent (and who cares how you seem to outsiders) because it's about you and an other in each other's presence, your livingness and that of the other engaged. It may not be a sweet thing, but it is nourishing.

My propos are some longer or shorter, some philosphical or experiential, but each one has been an occasion of discovery for me. If it isn't interesting, I know I haven't opened myself up to the encounter. I don't propose to address marital or political encounters in these propos since those conversations have their special venues, but everything else in my experience is fair game. If these tips are useful, take them.

Reflecting on encounters, their immediacy or resonance, is one part. Then there's risking hospitality, friendship and exploration, acted on in whatever ways they may suggest or present themselves to you, thus putting your encounters in the context of the transcendent. This is not talk, but it can be talked about.

These propos are really only a trail of crumbs left behind me; I really don't know more than where I've come from and that there's further yet, and I'm going there. What I need to know of my soul and the cosmos I'll surely find in the intersection of me and the Other, and that what you may find will be equally meaningful to you.

If you feel like like sharing, I'd love to listen in on your account of your encounters.