I had a great conversation with a friend the other day. A one point I mentioned how I’d been writing these posts comparing stories to fractals. She excitedly told me about learning how most things (maybe everything?) can be reduced and measured into being both a wave and a particle. She then mentioned how when learning about the patterns of stories, they seemed to go in wave; beginning, build up, climax, conclusion. I thought for a moment. “Let’s say you have a story with ten characters. The story follows this pattern, there’s one wave. In life, however, each of those characters has their own stories, sometimes with some of the same characters, but often with others” “All fractaling off of each other!” She had already caught it. In my mind I was picturing little wave patterns connecting and branching off of each other; each representing a story, a pattern of growth.
In life, in existence, there are no stories in isolation; they are all connected. I hadn’t considered this part of the connection between stories and fractals until talking with my friend. Our interaction and the development of our relationship is what gave me the reference point to see this pattern.
Right now I’m watching a momma and baby bird hop around the floor of the coffee shop patio. The baby follows the momma as she finds bits of food then sticks them in the baby’s mouth. The baby keeps chirping and fluttering its wings rapidly. They’re really cute.
They also make me think about how babies are a fractal pattern from their parents; the way population graphs form fractal patterns.
The baby just flew a little bit, then tried to run up the railing while half flying with its feet slipping on the wood.
Part of the cuteness is derived from the clumsiness that comes with growth and development. I feel like cute things tug on our sense of meaning.
Baby birds form fractaly patterns in the form of feathers and population graphs. They also give me warm fuzzy feelings and reference points for understanding.
What is the point? It’s fairly open ended. This section is simply another reference point. A picture of connections painted through the lens of my limited understanding and experience. The hope is that it is an encouragement to find meaning through discovering patterns, making connections, developing relationships, and playfully interacting with the word around us.