Yesterday night, my 12 yr. old son Zac was lamenting the fact that he had a grammar test on the Past Progressive. I said nothing, not wanting to discourage his academic motivation (which is tenuous at best), but I thought quietly to myself: That makes no sense ... What kind of tense is that?? How can the past be progressive?
You see, I have a slight fascination with quantum physics. A slip of paper I wrote out seven years ago is tacked on my studio wall like a misplaced Tarot card. It says: «Everything in the future is a wave, everything in the past is a particle. » I have translated these words with an obsessive streak working on a series of waves in mixed media. I even dream waves.
If you take a closer look, you might see that my waves flow up from the undercurrent, those particles of the past that keep drifting up like toxic seaweed: the loss of my father, the damage of sexual abuse...
In fact, I think the past is never progressive (sorry Zac). Yesterday is gone. Today is fleeting. Tomorrow is full of possibilities and crashing waves float us to the future.
So why not take a ride together? Come with me on this strange temporal rollover coaster. It only comes once, and until then, it does not even exist. Pretty amazing when you think about it. To get to the future, we are bound to take a leap into time. I guess the question is: Can we keep our eyes open to all the possibilities emerging while we jump into unknown waters?
Let me hold your hand. We can jump together off this cliff. I will whisper in your ear that each moment holds a future secret— a truly rare instance of quantum probability that is both uncertain and promising. The moment you can unlock all possibilities.
If you are feeling a little wary, just think that the future will come one way or another. So why not use this moment to do something different. Grab your courage. Take a chance. Leap into the future possible.
