Dust Bunnies: Coming and Going Under the Bed

Somewhere in my past—I’m not sure when or where, maybe it was in a shared room or dorm somewhere—I remember lifting my bedspread to see dust bunnies collected under my bed. Whoever was in the room with me used the expression, “Well, it looks like someone is coming or going down there.”

When I asked what that meant, I was told it came from an old Latin expression used on Ash Wednesday when the priest put a dab of ashes on the foreheads of Catholics saying, “Remember man that you are dust, and into dust you shall return.” Thus, the dust bunnies under my bed were thought to be a person either coming into existence or going out of it. Well, that incident and expression stuck with me.

It seemed appropriate because the dust coming and going reminded me very much of the whole idea of anything coming and going, such as being or substance, or atoms and nuclear particles. In early Greek times, Aristotle believed in 1) being-in-act, 2) being-in-potency, and 3) non-being. The latter of these three terms is easy to deal with because, poof, it’s not there and we need not be concerned about it.

Simply put, Aristotle thought that being-in-potency is that which a thing can be while being-in-act is that which a thing already is. A tiny tomato seed-in-act, is a grown tomato plant-in-potency with juicy ripe, ready to pick tomatoes. A huge block of marble-in-act, is the Pieta, or statue of David-in-potency.

Later, during medieval times and particularly with the advent of Thomas Aquinas, the idea of a certain dynamism or movement arose among Scholastic thinkers who no longer saw being-in-potentia and being-in-actu always as two distinct, static states. Using the example of the marble above, while the marble is being sculpted from a solid block, it is easy to imagine it moving inexorably from being in potentia to being in actu.

Originally, David was nothing but marble in potentia; yet he had an aptitude to change, a chance to be worked into something new. As a completed work of art in actu, David had been actualized, made whole, perfected. The marble’s capacity to be fulfilled was determined.

Article Author: Regis Schilken

Regis Schilken's stories reflect his search for meaning in a very human but frightening way. Three of his books have been published: The Oculi Incident, The Island Off Stony Point, and a third, You Know When was just recently released. …

Visit Regis Schilken's author page — Regis Schilken's Blog