"Be with myself and center," goes the Fergie song lyric. Nowadays everyone's into centering, cultivating a focused present-moment awareness, a form of meditation.

But how about sintering — heating a powder below its melting point until the particles stick together? It's what happens when ceramic pottery is fired. The technique is also used to make complex ultra-high-purity objects.

And sintering is just like what goes on when a person goes into a stressful situation and comes out stronger. Fragmented thoughts and emotions get sorted out and combine. Weak bits fuse into a coherent whole.

I want to be with myself and sinter!

^z - 2010-05-08