To be alive, it seemed to me, as I stood there in all kinds of sorrow, was to be both original and reflection, and to be dead was to be split off, to be reflection alone.Teju Cole, Open City, 2011.
I am reading this book and enjoying the concurrent streaming of awareness the author's character makes as he walks, works and lives through the days and nights of New York City. His attention to the historical detail alongside the nuance of his feeling state is compelling.
This concurrent streaming of different awareness is a familiar experience in my own life, as the imaginary, sensory and intellectual streams of thought converge. At any moment anything might happen ... this morning I thought I heard a helicopter and on venturing outside I saw an eagle soaring high above in the blue blue sky –wing span catching and riding the air currents as I watched in wonder. Last night a Powerful Owl, today an eagle ... watch, wait and breathe ... Blessings and salutations for the New Year!