An Exposition on Explosions and Implosions

I had lunch with Myra at Centrepoint and advised her to use her energy wisely. She has so much talent, potential and self-confidence. My only fear for her is that she is like some combustable fuel prone to exploding and burning uncontrollably. 

All that energy has be harnessed carefully; let the explosion happen in a controlled manner in a piston chamber. She needs to be an engine. An engine is a man-made structure for harnessing the power latent in fuel.

In the news today is something sad: they finally found the debris of the submersible vehicle, Titan which had been lost for the past 5 days in the ocean near the wreckage of the Titanic. Apparently there was an implosion, which had instantaneously killed its 5 passengers. It had crushed like a beer can.

Life is fragile. We could explode from the youthful recklessness or implode from the pressures of society. How we use our energy and strengthen our physical and emotional structure is important in preventing an catastrophic failures due to explosions or implosions.

When we are young, we are full of idealism. We want to protest against every perceived injustice. We want to fight enemies and conquer new territories. We want to experience life to the fullest. We are born to express and experience and in that experiencing, we strengthen our mental and physical frame, making us wiser and more resilient.

Life is a game of navigation between extremes. We strive to find the right balance between safety and danger. How much risk should we take in life? Too little risk means very little gain and not stretching oneself enough. But how far should we go? Pain is a good gauge.  We stretch until we start feeling some pain and then we stop. Without sufficient stress and strain, the structure doesn't change. Too much of it could cause the structure to give way.

Balance is often boring. It reeks of mediocrity. Caution is like a curse. We like to worship individuals who are willing to take great risks and applaud them when they succeed. Heroes who scale dizzying heights and dive to great depths. When they do not explode or implode, they are celebrated.  

I've come to appreciate the steadily burning candle flame, not the exploding fireworks, which our culture so adores. I have an aromatic candle burning now in front of me as I type these words. It burns at the right pace, using up just the right amount of wax to release its lavender fragrance into my apartment. 

I guess I'm through with all the explosions and implosions of life. Nowadays, I'm happy being that candle, burning slowly, illuminating some small corner of the universe.