Am I a noun or a verb?

More and more I think that no thing exists.  Rather, things happen.  We tend to overuse the verb “to be” and underuse the verbs “to do” and “to have”; this leads us to be deluded about the nature of things.  If you want to explore how our incessant use of the verb “to be” is frought with danger, try googling “E-prime”, which is the English language with the proviso that all conjugations of the verb “to be” are disallowed.  One can actually think, write and speak without most uses of this extremely prevalent passive, non-action verb.  Instead of saying “I am a Democrat,” as if it’s part of my identity, we would say “I usually have ideas which most people would associate with the Democratic Party.”  Instead of saying “I am a father,” one would say “I care for my children.”

 A plant is not so much a thing as a dynamic process that connects the Sun and the Earth . . . a recycling process that functions to keep carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms moving in and out of the atmosphere and other living processes. 

 Analogously, more and more I also tend to see myself as a verb . . .  as a dance instead of a dancer.  I am a process that connects my parents and my children.  I function as a father, as a friend, as a physician.  I am a recycling process to keep atoms recirculating in the Cosmic Dance.  I am an ever-evolving song (sometimes harmonious and sometimes discordant) happening in this part of three dimensional space and centered in this moment of the time dimension.   Like other living processes I take in nutrients and catabolize them to derive energy . . .  that I can then use to create other biomolecules . . . which are then used in the construction of my self-organizing and ever-evolving body, so as to ward off stressors and the forces of entropy . . . and thereby keep my integrity.  But unlike nonliving processes (like rocks), plants and most creatures, I have the incredible ability to have self-awareness (conciousness) and to think with abstract concepts (words)!  Go figure.  How awesome is that!

I wouldn't trade it for the world, but having an incessant verbal train of thought in my monkey mind can, however, be tiresome.   Sometimes I wish I could be (or be-have like?) an oak tree for a day.