Light is both a particle and a wave.

                                              An insight is a piece of the whole, a particle of light.

                                             Insights, however, move in waves in all directions.

                                             There is no linear pathway to truth.

It wasn’t until I became more familiar with the basic principles of quantum physics that I was able to approach a more unified understanding of the material being worked on.

I went to the library and checked out three or four of the most readable books on quantum physics available. As I was reading about the uncertainty principle and wave particle theory, various aspects of the material I’d been working on began to fall into place. My grasp of quantum physics remains elemental. However, the introduction to its basic principles allowed me to grasp the concepts I was seeing.

Even with this breakthrough I continued to have what I called “batik” moments. Batik is a wax resist dying method. In working the design, the artist applies the wax to the negative spaces in order to define the patterns of the design. It takes a certain spatial ability to work in the negative…particularly while in process.

I often found while working on the text and manual that, in comprehending the subject being addressed, I was able to understand the references being made without being able to see the patterns being formed. The way the information was presented didn’t fit neatly into the format of starting with an object and building upon this by finding relationships in a linear progression.

The structure of modern Western language itself follows linear progression. Subject, verb, modifiers. We also construct our communication in terms of past, present and future. This structure of language greatly impeded progress in bridging the various elements presented into a cohesive whole. It was also disconcerting to discover that my mind constructs every understanding by referencing something else. When confronted with a totally new paradigm…. I was in a very deep ocean.

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/apophysis_rocks/2343010087/”>Lynn (Gracie’s mom)</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;