Just Try and Swim 6,600 feet in my Fins at 2286 meters at Ft. Marcy

The purpose of "Indra's Net," if I may be so bold as to make a statement as to say it has one, meaning that yes, there is a method to the madness, can neatly be summed up in two words: analysis, synthesis.

For me, life is a series of negotiations between analysis and synthesis.

Some would argue that I am not the best negotiator (references upon request) because, according to them, I have often "given in" or "compromised" instead of being a cold, steel-hearted, ruthless haggler who fights to the death, ultimately getting it my way. Guilty as charged. Some battles are not worth fighting any longer.

For me, at least, that is not the purpose of negotiations. More often than not, as with the case of the Belgian non-Government Government, it is a stalemate, an impasse, an emotional or ideological brick wall. Call me a Hegelian.

I did my morning swim today at the Ft. Marcy pool in Santa Fe, and I thought of an analogy that helps me to get this point across, at least to myself.

For someone in Belgium right now, it may not mean anything if I say, "Hey, I just swam 6,600 feet at Ft. Marcy." For one, if people could actually see my words, they would think I just said 6 and 2/3 feet because you use a period, not a comma to designate a thousand. That aside, saying 6,600 feet instead of 2 kilometers is futile to someone whose cognitive set is the metric system. Moreover, unless you know Santa Fe, saying Ft. Marcy means nothing as well. Or, if I said at 2286 meters above sea level to most Americans, it would not garner much response, though 7500 feet would.

When we live or travel in other countries we are always making such conversions, for if we don't, our message does not get across clearly.

Similarly, just speaking about what concerns us may not mean anything to someone else. If I say that I swam 1 1/4 miles today to a runner or a cyclist, not much crossover. That is a paltry distance to them, given their choice of sports. However, I have made some correlations with running and cycling based on time and effort involved, and 1 1/4, my daily swim, becomes a 5 mile (11 km) run or a 15-mile (33 km) bike ride. (You're going to have to trust me on the math on this). Likewise, to someone who never swims, runs, or bikes, that is a great distance. For me, it is a leisurely morning swim at high altitude (which allows you to add a percentage of distance and time).  In other words, as you can quickly see, just talking about my morning swim can be a whole mess of miscommunications.

Add to that: emotions, cultural differences, interior monologues, personal demons, perspectives, ad nauseum, you get quite a net there rather quickly.

When I set out with Indra's Net then, it was to attempt to talk about these cultural conversions that we make every day in our lives. Some readers may relate to philosophical questions, others to being a parent, still more to being an American, or not being an American and so on. It is a calculus of negotiations, striving to produce such cultural conversions to open dialogue, rather than to create an impasse. As I said, call me a Hegelian, guilty as charged.

Perhaps I am a "weak" negotiator, one who seeks for resolution in order to move forward by realizing that some impasse situations lack such conversions. Some things just can't be translated. Some things are indeed, lost in conversion.