What have we learned of the shingle and dune, the rock and the sand. We learn that there is no difference between the two but our perspective. How we treat the singular and the plural, the promise and the fulfillment. It’s really an illusion, one that we create because it’s easier. We have limited attention and time and the rocks will weather into sand just the same. We actually have to help the rocks weather. This is why we afford them the attention they need.
Maybe the key is to weather and grind the rocks faster, but to what end? Is the boundless desert really what we desire? Is the boundless desert possible? Sometimes it feels as if we’re rushing toward it as fast as we can. Other times we really are just banging around the same old rocks. When do we need sand, when do we need rocks? Can we do without either? These questions are as old as time, maybe even older than the shingle and dune.
It is all just rocks and sand, rocks and sand, all the way down, all the way on. It’s simply the rocks we see that count, the rocks all around are too many to count, but just enough to strive for. But is there something more? Is there a rock so big even the sea couldn’t weather it? When will sand come out the other end? Is it doomed to be particular? Remember that it’s a sandbox we play in, but a rock tumbler we use.
You may not realize it, but you’ve been banging rocks together this whole time. Me too. Thinking about it is pretty typical, but make sure you focus on actually banging them at least some of the time. You might even strike a blaze of glory if you’re lucky while you hit those rocks together. It’s the most primal type of monkey business out there, the old game of rocks and sand.