meerkats not standing up

The horizontologist seeks life’s moments of deliberation when the mind reflects, considers and then decides upon an action. What is your intention? Are you living in a state of compulsion? Horizontology tries to decipher when we are acting from a type of coercion or when we are acting according to our conscious will.

The wind blows a palm frond down across the stone border that forms a circle around the tree trunk. The horizontologist resists the reflex to pick up the palm frond, to clear away the chance error from the circle. He carefully deliberates on this moment and this enlightened hesitation enables him to see the beautiful design created by the wind — a line intersecting a circle. What is the purpose of moving it?

Sometimes we find ourselves reacting to a perceived negative force. We either push against it or swerve to avoid it. We slap ourselves in the head to try and kill the fly. Wait. Enjoy the fly! Her legs are velvet invitations to your skin. Think of her tiny steps. Why do you want to kill her?

Deliberate also on perceived pleasures. Compulsion in the sex act is nothing more than masturbation. Compulsion in eating is nothing more than assaulting the body. The sip of brandy is deliberate . The guzzling of beer is automatic, unthinking. The mind is not the author of its own drunkenness.

Think. Then do. Or do not do.