Dwelling-in, and returning-to

To dwell is to linger, and to abide in--to tarry along a path, but in a way that invests development of life into the place being tarried in. The word "dwell" is distantly cognate with "dull", though a PIE root meaning something like "dim, obfuscated, confused", and possibly cognate with "qualm". The semantic shift, and the current ambiguity, speaks of the ambiguity in dwelling. Are you here to stay, or is this a temporary stop along your path? Both.

Dwelling is a forgotten fundamental of thinking about hard problems. If you think about a hard problem, you encounter key elements that want to be overhauled but which can't be appropriately overhauled. Such elements (a core question, a basic assumption, a pervasive concept, a complex central phenomenon) are provisional but can't be resolved on demand. For example:

First, I think about overall strategy. Afterward, I will execute the plan I worked out.
First, I survey the field. Afterward, I will make progress in the subarea or phenomenon I selected.
First, I work out the foundations of my approach--the basic materials, questions, methods, assumptions. Afterward, I will apply and build on top of those foundations.

These are all mistakes. Such elements call for dwelling-in: for long-term investigation and exploration of possibilities, connected to many other questions in many contexts--as directed by an investment of life-force, which is unboundedly creative and therefore the only force appropriate to address an element that calls for unbounded creativity and unbounded integration of novelty into life.

Needless to say, following a path of interest ("amongst-being") into the details is also needed. So dwelling is a division or suspension of spirit. Dwelling leaves a permanent mark: You will always be someone who dwelled there, even after you move on. You've planted questions and goals there, which will grow there forever. At the same time, you go along a path.

That's why dwelling-in and returning-to are connected. Key elements ask for dwelling-in; for a mind, which is creative, dwelling-in means always returning-to.