Beauty in Low Places

Plato, in the Phaedo, informs us that we live in hollows on the face of the earth, filled with water, mist, and the lower air. This is in contradiction to the commonly-held belief that we live, of course, on its surface. Plato (through his vehicle of Socrates who, however, most say was likely a real person) further reveals that our experienced earth is only the sediment of the true earth gathered, and that this true earth is a more fair and pure place. Indeed, he says we are like creatures at the bottom of the sea, fancying that we are on the surface of the water, but too feeble and sluggish to lift our heads and behold the true upper world. I not only agree but find this revelation a perhaps strange comfort. For I am in decrepit decaying basements, underground tunnels, watery underworlds, in my dreams. And little wonder, when the scenes all around us are of war, violence, destruction, general depravity. At least for me, these are only stories in the news, not lived experiences. Living...