"We Exist Somewhere"
By Rita J. King

The evolution of consciousness promises that if humanity is capable, we can master the medium into which we’ve been born, or at least survive within it indefinitely. Life is art. Or, at least, it can be.

Ideas about life and death might be a trick of our minds. A sparkler, spinning in a circle, takes on the appearance of a solid shape. Our lives are the same way. Eternity is composed of a transfer of energy, and each life is a cross-section of that process.

Many people have been deeply affected by Dan Eldon’s work, especially because he was successful so early in life. At age 22, by the time he was murdered by an angry mob in July 1993 while covering the crisis in Somalia, he was the youngest Reuters photographer of all time.

His notebooks, preserved by his family after his death, tell the story of a life fully lived. Chronology becomes meaningless when so much happens in such a brief burst of “time.” This radical idea has the power to change lives. His work has a mesmerizing potency, not just because the juxtaposition of images reveal passion, jealousy, fear and growth that most people strive to conceal for the sake of keeping up appearances, but because of Dan’s humor and insight.

I was in my twenties when I first discovered his work on a lonely, terrifying day in my own life. Now, in my thirties, he looks younger as I age, and yet I continue to find new layers of meaning in his work, such as a cone marked off with the words, “We Exist Somewhere Here,” next to “Figure I: The Planes of Existence.”

I investigated this bit of sacred geometry and soon learned that conical spheres “imitate” infinity because they start at a specific point and extend ever outward. Our lives, together and individually, are like this.

The starting point, birth, gives us the impression that we manifested out of nothing to take shape on this planet. All kinds of ideas have sprung from the need to explain this miracle, but some cosmic questions are meant to be left unanswered. Life is so mysterious that it is easier to become obsessed with deciphering the impossible than to channel the energy we have now.

Overcoming the urge to engage in endless thought and neurotic obsession is one of the most difficult challenges to overcome. Understanding that each organism must die in order for collective change to occur is heartbreaking, but it is the truth, and the best we can do is contribute to our fullest potential with the faith that humanity will grow as a result. This is another lesson embedded in the pages of The Journey is the Destination.

Dan Eldon was aware that people die for a good cause inevitably, but must choose consciously to live with purpose. The older I get, the more astonishing his youth seems in photographs. He was young enough to retain his sense of immortality and old enough to understand that the way he lived jeopardized his life. He didn’t live as if avoiding death was his primary goal. True freedom is the willingness to die by living according to one’s own intuition and necessity without conforming to a standard of temporary preservation. This is a difficult realization to fully accept. It is a revolutionary idea. Everyone is free to accept the consequences of his or her own actions, regardless of circumstance.

How far are you willing to go?

Dan Eldon was a visionary and the conical sphere is one of the answers he left behind. His life was a creative experiment conducted with a specific purpose in mind. Rather than regarding his civic duty as a burden, he made it enjoyable for himself and others. His choices were guided by a mission statement: “To explore the unknown and familiar, distant and near, and to record in detail with the eyes of a child…”

The time has come when individuals no longer have the luxury of leaving the most difficult tasks to others. We would be wise to form alliances that allow us to work together well and find meaning in the connections we form. Every generation’s problems are pervasive. Ours are enhanced by corporate ownership of the government, which was set up according to the Declaration of Independence to serve the needs of the people it represents. Greed has obscured that goal.

Our challenges are many. Global warming threatens to alter the course of humanity. Warfare can wipe out the most brilliant minds overnight. Starvation strips civilization of great thinkers. Preventable disease and poverty can kill people before they have a chance to contribute to society, robbing the world of the opportunity for advancement those lives may have contained.

We can still choose fear or freedom

Fortunately, the internet has underscored the illusion of boundaries between cultures, and the proper response to this new awareness is to focus on basic human rights. We’re all in this together. It is possible for humanity to evolve to unimaginable heights. When fire was discovered, no word yet existed to describe the miracle. That wasn’t so long ago.

The path of human life is tied directly to the manner in which energy is harnessed and understood, and we are still in the infancy of our ultimate transformation. Idealism alone never works, and unfocused action wastes almost as much time as doing nothing.

It is necessary to organize, to create a mission statement. In a world where divisiveness has replaced common sense and decency, it is necessary to look beyond strict interpretations of reality and recognize that humans, as a species, require certain basic elements in order to thrive. Extinction and evolution are the only two options offered by nature, and we are the only species capable of making a conscious decision to ensure our own survival.

Fragmented perceptions never tell the whole story, which is why collage is such a powerful medium. We exist somewhere here. Participation in an effort larger than the concept of “self” is the most effective way to encourage young people to cultivate an attitude of equanimity. Dan Eldon’s journals serve as a tool to illustrate a life lived by that principle. Human rights is the only inclusive worldview and needs to be the central beam of any movement geared at organizing human beings for the greater good of all, despite cultural relativism. Love is the antidote to fear, and power isn’t gained by imposing the will on others, but by mastering our own minds.

The only way to enjoy life while accomplishing the intrepid task of preserving our species is to have a good time working together and alone. The five senses allow us to protect ourselves as move our bodies through this world so our souls can accomplish the collective goal of greater harmony. The sixth sense, intuition, is the manner in which the divine provides guidance. It will never steer us wrong. Dan Eldon understood that. He drew a picture, Murder by Mob, shortly before his death, depicting the scene of his own end. He was a willing participant in his own life, not a victim of circumstance.

Life is a grand mystery. Words fall short of describing the true meaning of the transfer of energy. The first cosmic syllable of creation is still adrift in the infinite void, and we can only hear it in silence, and live it through our actions. This collective vibration is the music of the spheres, the drum that makes us move.

 

Rita J. King lives with her husband, musician and writer WB King, in New York.
She can be reached at dancingink@hotmail.com