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Two Orange Chairs, One Dark Sky, In Three Parts10 June 2005 - 00:33 I said: �Seth would say there are two orange chairs in this room: the one I see, and the one you see. Two completely different physical manifestations, each created by one of us, existing in the same place. Usually close enough to being similar that we don�t notice there are two.� Kale replied: �I have heard and been fascinated by ideas like that before, that my green is not *your* green, etc., but everything I�ve experienced leads me to believe there is only one orange chair, one color green.� Me: �It�s strange, isn�t it? Sometimes I feel as if he describes us as being so far apart that even our perceptions aren�t the same -- more than galaxies apart: a distance that cannot be crossed -- so that we respect each other�s unique choices. It�s easy for me to have a certain loving detachment for the actions of a stranger, but when it comes to what you do, or what my child does, it�s hard to separate out my identity, to bless your choice because *you* made it, not because I believe it is good.� Kale: �It�s true that the closer people are to you, the harder it is to respect their choices, especially when it seems like they�re hurting themselves. And yet somehow, I feel we all owe that to each other, to the extent we are able, for me to recognize that your choices make a statement only about your life, which is, of course, different from mine. Even if we see the same chair.� |