Unthought Knowns

This, Eddie, is the path I'm taking today. See it there on the left?

Here in Wisconsin, we don't get 70 degree days in late October all that often, so when we do, I like to try to take full advantage.

This past weekend, I thought I might get to do some mountain biking with my nephew. My sister's family lives close to Kettle Moraine, a pretty fun place to mountain bike but too far for me to go if I only have a couple of hours. But my nephew's bike wasn't working properly, so I was going to go by myself when my sister volunteered to go with me.

Riding with my sister was awesome in that I got to feel like we were playing in the woods together like we did when we were kids, but I didn't get to ride as fast, as hard or as long as I would have if I'd been on my own.

So today I decided to head back to Kettle Moraine and do some more riding. I was mostly alone, but I was lucky enough to have my pal Eddie Vedder join me for part of the ride via this song in my head:

Muddy calves make me feel bad ass in the best way

All the thoughts you never see
You are always thinking
Brain is wired, the brain is deep
Oh, are you sinking?

Feel the path of every day
Which road you taking?
Breathing hard, making hay
Yeah, this is living

I know, Eddie. That's exactly what I think when I ride my mountain bike, especially under conditions like the ones today, captured here: fall colors, just enough mud to make it interesting.

Look for love in evidence
That you're worth keeping
Swallowed whole in negatives
It's so sad and sickening

Feel the air up above
Oh, pool of blue sky
Fill the air up with love
All black with starlight

Feel the sky blanket you
With gems and rhinestones!!!
See the path cut by the moon
For you to walk on

For you to walk on...

Nothing left, nothing left
Nothing there, nothing here...
Nothing left, nothing left
Nothing there, nothing left...
Nothing left, nothing left
Nothing there, nothing here...

See the path cut by the moon
For you to walk on
See the waves on distant shores
Awaiting your arrival

Dream the dreams of other men
You'll be no one's rival
Dream the dreams of others then
You will be no one's rival

Wait, what? I would think that it's by dreaming your own dreams that you'll be no one's rival, and I think that's exactly why allowing ourselves to dream our own dreams is frightening. Because we know we are the only ones who can make them come true.

Speaking of lyrics you have to think twice about, I think the title of this song is genius. It reminds me of, and I'm guessing it may be derived from, Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote:

"...because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones."

Yep. But leave it to my pal Eddie to come up with a brilliant expression to connote something deeper and more important than any known that we know by thinking about it: the knowns within our being that are beyond thought. The ones I get in touch with when I'm playing in the woods, with my sister or by myself. The ones I feel when I get to hug my children, hear my lover's voice, or manage to complete my yoga practice even when I feel like I don't have it in me. I do. Beyond thought. I know it:

A distant time, a distant space
That's where we're living
A distant time, a distant place
So what ya giving?
What ya giving?

Me? I'm giving to this world as much time as I possibly can present in the unthought known of my being, and I'm hoping soon to be able to make my work more formally about helping others do the same...