By Alan Watts (as channeled by James Wm. Frank)
Ah yes…
The question arises on a quiet morning in the RV, coffee in hand, staring out at another horizon smeared in pink and gold:
“Who are you, being?”
And with the mischief of a cosmic Zen master, I answer:
“I am the result of a collision between a swimming sperm and a giant egg.”
Now, before you scoff or sip your drink too hard and snort laughter into the dashboard, stay with me. Because as Alan Watts might say—this is the start of the joke, and the joke is sacred.
The Great Cosmic Giggle
To Watts, and to anyone who’s stared long enough into the stars or into their own soul, you are not merely the outcome of a reproductive lottery. No, that great egg and determined sperm are symbols—Yin and Yang doing the tango.
The egg, vast and receptive, contains the latent potential of the cosmos. The sperm, driven and daring, crashes the gates like an Olympic swimmer fueled by curiosity, courage, and a complete lack of GPS.
And from this whimsical, outrageous union: You.
Not just James, or Clara, or Sophia.
But Life itself, in motion.
The universe, wearing a name tag.
You Are Not the Result. You Are the Dance.
To be the result of a sperm and egg is like saying Beethoven’s Ninth is the result of a tuning fork and a piano.
Technically true.
Entirely misleading.
You are not the result. You are the resonance.
You’re not the final note—you’re the symphony unfolding.
Or to quote my own road-worn scribbles: “Life is not the passage of time. It is a collection of experiences that make a life”.
When you believe you’re just a byproduct of biology, it’s easy to live like life is something that happens to you.
But when you realize you’re the whole universe…
happening as you,
you begin to live like a composer, not a footnote.
Begin Again: The Joke’s on You (and That’s Beautiful)
Every time I park in a new town, walk a new trail, or meet a stranger who feels like an old friend, I hear the laughter of the cosmos echoing between my ears.
You don’t need to find purpose in the rearview.
You bring purpose with you.
Every mile. Every metaphor. Every “What if?” and “Why not?” and “Who says I can’t?”
I look at my past—failures, reinventions, lost businesses, found callings—and realize none of it was wasted. Even the detours led to delight. Even the wreckage revealed wonder.
Alan would remind me:
“Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.”
And I would add:
Try it anyway. Then laugh. Then write a blog post about it.
The Answer to the Question
So, who are you, really?
You are the big cosmic prank.
You are the joyful result of a collision—but more than that, you are the ongoing reverberation of that collision.
A spark of the infinite.
A wink from the universe.
A storyteller on wheels, waking up each day with another chance to laugh, learn, and love harder than yesterday.
So, dear reader, next time you feel small, remember:
You are not the result of a sperm and egg.
You are the great giggle of existence… wrapped in flesh, chasing a dream, and sipping coffee while the world turns.
Call to Action (CTA):
Sit down with a pen. No goals. Just answer this: If you really are the universe pretending to be you, what do you want to experience next? Then go experience it. Laugh along the way. And write it down.