Against Movement

I keep thinking about the car battery that died while I was away, elsewhere. It had remained inactive for too long, four weeks, lost its charge and quit altogether.

I underestimated how quickly things can leave us when we are off doing something else; how we need to feel the spark of electricity in order to run; how movement is more than simply traveling, but to set and keep in motion. In fact, this is exactly how car batteries charge: by driving.

Movement begets movement. It is only when we are against it, that things break down and fall apart. This is true of any kind of energy, whether it is mechanical or electric, physical or spiritual – we all need an alternator that can help us transfer the constant voltage of direct current to the always changing waves of alternating current. And alternators only work when energy is given, so it can be used.

I am fascinated by this kinetic recharging, a harmonious exchange of gaining energy by exerting it. I suppose this what waves do, ebbing and flowing, or what I feel like while hiking or when friendships are reciprocal in nature, when style is substance and there is nothing conflicting what is, but rather an agreement of whatever it’s allowed to be. And yet, we change because of it.

We move on. We move forward. We travel alone and together. Alone together. We drive. We charge. We give and we gain everything we need.