Tears Etched the Stone

Something never before
felt nor seen.
The weight of which
crumpled your knees
with what's supposed to be;
a week's wage of woe levied by tax.
Eyes opened to the decree:
close enough to touch
but not to hold.
Paid in tears--
salt etched the stone--
of two minds,
hard-headed each
for love and logic.
Blind justice
awaiting a life sentence
of work,
or the worse,
disregard.
In which case we can only
burn the book
of us.

Depth and Taxes

I haven't learned how to scuba dive (yet), something about having to monitor your alcohol intake while

Image by giveawayboy via Flickr

on vacation? Yeah, when we get to that part, I check out of Dodge. But, I'm not here to converse about the water; I'm here to discuss the mind.
Perhaps my greatest friend in the world--also known as the person that knows me best and someone I actually listen to when she scolds me--tells a great story about the snorkeler vs. the scuba diver. No one can argue that there are people that don't think enough and people to over-think everything, obviously there is depth to thought. Personally, I spend a lot of time every minute of my day thinking about the world, life, my mission, Promise and I share a lot of these thoughts with you. There are people that never think about these kinds of things at all. As much as I think we should all spend time in the depths once in awhile, I can't argue with the beautiful things that I've seen snorkeling and the pictures of the things that I've seen from the depths. In other words, I see the merit of living a simpler life in the world of tangible things instead of constantly trying to approach and interpret ideals.
When two people get together and one them is scuba certified, the other typically goes through the process so that they can dive together. My first question, can a thought-snorkeler learn to thought-scuba dive? If so, what does the certification process look like?
What does the Twitterverse have to say (follow @zamees)?
D-Zaster: You can't. I like that "the depth you need to be happy". Needs never go away, they can be substituted, i.e. happiness for food, but they never go away.
B: Can you ever find happiness through substitution?
D: No, it might seem like happiness, but that original need still exists even if it is buried.
--
Char: I'm not sure you can make anyone do anything beyond their capacity and alignment- have they just not the skills and perspective yet, or are they wired / incapable of handling the depths you need?
B: Someone that's not wired for exploration at such depths.
Char: Ahhh. Well then, they are probably not designed to fit the role you need.
B: This is a hypothetical, btw, but how would you extract yourself from them (the relationship) using "depth" as a reason?
Char: By explaining that you have different drives, natures and as such have different needs based on those. Neither of you are wrong or lacking--you just can't productively operate within the current role (i.e. type of relationship), and thus will end up disappointing and frustrating each other because of that.
So, with the question, "How do you make someone that can't go deep understand the depth that you need?" people seem to think that the answer is, "You can't." E gad, I don't like that answer at all, but it just might be true. Now, when I say "you can't," I mean that you can't with a clarity of mutual understanding. Seems that those I spoke with believe that writing to be on the wall; your tax bill is due and it's a disastrous one.
However, I believe that you can. Maybe it's because I'm an optimist, but it would make sense that you'd have to point to tangible examples in the world in order to get a tactile person to understand what you mean. And, isn't that what we attempt when we're trying to approach ideals, replicate their existence in the real world? Yes, of course it is.

• These are the things that are important to me and I live to discuss them.
• In my heart, I know that this is my mission in life.
• You know when this always happens, I really want that to happen.

Only in your own life will you be able to find the right examples. With the right examples, you can ease the burden and approach understanding. Just like taxes, there's no avoiding the pain that will occur, but with solid accounting you can minimize the damage.
[I'm just gonna press "Publish" now even though I mixed water and tax metaphors... couldn't resist the "Depth and Taxes" title and on the verge of saying something about blood and water...]