inane

\ih-NAYN\

noun

: void or empty space

...the universe's nature

Consists, in essence, of two different things: for there is matter,

And there is void.

...were there no emptiness, then everything would stand

A solid mass. Were there no body, on the other hand,

To fill a space and take it up, then everything there is

Would consist entirely of vacancy and emptiness.

- Lucretius

karma is the closest my family came to believing in a grander scheme. everything about karma is based on balance—if you throw the balance off, the universe will compensate in order to right itself. my mother made this very clear to me as a child. the golden rule did not exist to teach me to do right, but rather to show me that i will be vindicated if i do wrong, that the universe will not let me get away with those wrongdoings.

because of this, i have always seen things as two-sided. everything must balance out in my head. i have grown to accept the good and bad equally because they are of the same significance to me. it doesn't mean i don't get pissed off or bummed out, but i hardly ever think things are unfair. because in my head, it all exists to create an ultimate balance.

of course, i realize this is all perception. it is all based on ideas fed to me when i was a child too small to rationalize my way out of them. but it's done. this is how i perceive. i need the bad to appreciate the good. i need the winter and the heartbreak. i need to hit the bottom of the barrel. i need the INANE, the emptiness, the negative space. it is so important for me to know what is not in order to understand what is.

emptiness must be by matter bounded.