i had a topic, but it eludes me now, living lives for another. relationships and actions are directed. actions are arrows, going only out, emanating from the self outward. there are no cyclic associations, well there are, but there is no one line that draws us all in, no common thread. we are individuals interacting. directed graph. arrows start at my heart and soul and point towards others. if i am lucky, others arrows point to me. choice reigns supreme. take down any of those arrows that i put up. anytime. i decide to put them up, or take them down, or put up two. like trees standing in a forest, but not the ones that share a root system. in my forest, any single tree can exist by itself, can flourish. there are trees that do even better in the shade there are those trees which provide shade, and those that still nutrients and those that by falling and rotting provide essential vitamins for other younger trees.