To my daughter: finding the edge of the universe
From papa to Emily:
The edge of your universe isn’t far. You were there that day you led me back across the empty black desert. Did you know you were so far then?You’d certainly have realized if you’d gone alone; though the thought of you by yourself in that place scares me. You can get there elsewhere, and without leaving home, or being alone; though that’s a neat trick your dad’s never figured out, and the reason I put on boots and wear a hat.
Why go to the edge of the universe? We humans go there for treasure. It’s a very old human trick. All the heroes do it. That’s why they’re remembered. That’s how our species moves on. They go because the best ore’s already taken where they are. There’s little to find besides rhetoric, dogma and law.
When you go bring an open mind for filling, something to carry your treasure back. Leave necessities behind. You’ll find what’s needed along the way. Again, you need not return to that black desert to find this place. Simply go where no map, compass or god can show the way.
From the original archive
First published on softypapa.wordpress.com on March 16, 2017. Original text, photographs, links, and embedded media preserved.
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