Shi / Tendency, Tension, Directional Force Shì · Shi / Tendency, Tension, Directional Force

Momentum is not a thing; it is the direction and trajectory of the tension in the between. The moment there is tension between two ends, the tension is not still—it pushes toward some direction, wanting to carry the two ends, the whole situation, that way. When the water level is high on one side and low on the other, the two sides divide, and at once momentum arises between them—the water wants to go to the low place, and you cannot stop it: that is water momentum. When the charges in a cloud are many on one side and few on the other, momentum arises between them; held to a certain point—crack—a bolt of lightning: that is electric momentum. In the human heart, the wanted and the unattainable divide into two ends, and between them a momentum stretches taut—this momentum pushes you, restless, unable to sit still, driven to do something.

Look at these—water momentum, electric momentum, that force in the heart: none of them lies at either end. The low place does not produce water out of itself; it is the drop between the high place and the low place that gives birth to the momentum. It lives in the between. This is the name of this section: Momentum Is Born in the Between. Momentum is born in the between. Wherever two ends stand apart and tension stretches taut, the between there gives birth to momentum—and this momentum is the direction in which that place will next move.