burning inside

A spark becomes an ember becomes a flame becomes a fire becomes a blazing inferno becomes a dark cloud of billowing smoke and ashes upon the ground. Every spark has the potential to give birth to a blazing inferno, given the right supporting conditions (i.e., fuel & oxygen). If something as small as a spark can generate enough kinetic energy to decimate a building, enough energy to end life, but also enough energy to clear away the dead to make way for new life, if a spark can result in all of these things, then why are some people so miserable?

The human mind is fueled by synapses firing off electric sparks by the billions. Have you ever seen lightning bolts flashing within a storm cloud? Picture the storm cloud as the human brain. If thought is electricity, and electricity is a constant stream of electrical impulses, or sparks, what does this reveal about the potential energy hidden within the human mind? Do we not each possess the mental equivalent of an atomic bomb, no, a supernova? Do we not each possess enough potential energy to bring about the destruction or creation of life, if given the right supporting conditions?

One of the constants of energy is that, when presented with a choice of alternative paths, energy will always choose the path of least resistance (there are a few exceptions, but for the purposes of this blog, that statement will suffice). This constant can be observed by following storm clouds as they move from high-pressure areas to areas with lower barometric pressure. Water being pulled downhill by gravity will travel around rocks and trees rather than through them. The reason that electric wires are coated in rubber has nothing to due with the fact that rubber does not conduct electricity; most materials conduct electricity at a high enough voltage level. No, electric wires are coated with rubber because rubber is much more resistant to the flow of electricity than the metal wire, and since electricity always takes the path of least resistance, the electric current remains isolated within the wire.

So what, if anything, should the deterministic nature of energy indicate to us about why a spark fails to become a blazing inferno, fails to transform its potential energy into kinetic energy? Should we take this to mean that some sort of resistance is impeding the evolution of the spark? If so, what is the source of that resistance? What is impeding the spark's progress? Do we, as humans, create supporting conditions for our sparks such that our sparks find the path to failure less resistant than the path to success? Do we allow our individual fears, superstitions, and childhood angst, as well as the restrictions and boundaries which society attempts to place upon us, do we allow all of these things to erect walls of impedance that prevent our sparks from ever realizing their full potential? Do we confine our mental sparks to a hostile environment of our own devising? Why all the resistance?