Nothing Just Is

Consider the herds that are feeding yonder: they know not the meaning of yesterday or today; they graze and ruminate, move or rest, from morning to night, from day to day, taken up with their little loves and hates and the mercy of the moment, feeling neither melancholy nor satiety. Man cannot see them without regret, for even in the pride of his humanity he looks enviously on the beast’s happiness. He wishes simply to live without satiety or pain, like the beast; yet it is all in vain, for he will not change places with it. He may ask the beast– “Why do you look at me and not speak to me of your happiness?” The beast wants to answer –”Because I always forget what I wished to say”; but he forgets this answer, too, and is silent; and the man is left to wonder.

This is one of my favourite quotes from Nietzsche’s “The Use and Abuse of History.” It seems to parallal the idea of Jaynesian Consciousness, something more than just the notion of awareness. For the cow is aware of the moment. The man differs in that he wonders about yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is restless, he cannot just be. Instead he must always become, is always becoming, and is never satisfied. So he never rests.

If the grass is always going to be greener, maybe we need to forget about conversing with the cow and just graze.

If only then we could gaze into the mirror.

Oh baby, let's graze.