In contradiction

I've been enjoying quiet days - going out little. Reading much, pushing myself against tiredness or unfilled moments. Stretching forward like a rubber band. Soon these days will turn into work as soon as the classes start next week. Then I'll be in those classrooms, transferring what I know of the subject to others. Energy will be needed then.

What do people require the most? Is it learning? Knowledge? Fulfilment?

Well, it comes to my mind that although these are needed, the first requirement to be satisfied is 'attention'. People feed on attention, and only after this has been fed, or quenched, can there be a space for learning.

In terms of my students, I feed their attention so that satisfaction can be applied to the work at hand.

For myself, I'm attempting to quench it, so that other spaces become available within. Solitude often helps here, I find.

Again, that contradiction: half of me wants to network, to form connections. The other half wishes for solitude. They mingle like siblings, and quarrel as only siblings know how.

Much like a world in contradiction, we mirror its many sides.