April 10, 2020

Motion Studies: Theory and Practice 

In theory, I am responsible. In theory,
I am able to respond. In theory. It's as if
I have the potential to respond, like I'm
an upright jar of pickles on the edge of
the countertop, hanging over just a little –
they say I have potential energy. It's just
that someone or something has to come
along and put me in motion, so that my
potential energy becomes kinetic energy.

In practice, I am not so sure. In practice,
I respond the best I can, the best I know
as of right now. In practice, I'm driven to
kinesis, to action, by conflicting forces –
by fear sometimes, other times by love.
Sometimes it's just sheer inertia, brute
momentum, that keeps me going: my
body in motion tends to stay in motion
unless acted upon by an outside force.

That doesn't feel very responsible, to be
honest. It is perhaps unavoidable, yes, this
"acted upon" business – one force over-
powering another to change my direction
on a given day, my speed in a given hour.
But is this the extent of it? Am I limited
to responding so mechanically to these
forces? I wonder. I wonder, so I practice.
I put myself in motion as best I am able.