I had forgotten about that scene. I knew there was a reason I really loved "American Beauty". Thank you for sharing that.

Moonvoice already said, much more eloquently, what I wanted to discuss - which is that of the tragic spork. I have felt dormant things, but it seems like a lot of the disposables and the short-lived, the tossed out and the dying; I don't feel like I'm awakening them through talking to them. I feel like... I wouldn't have even acknowledged or known to acknowledge them if they weren't already awake. This has been it's most painful with the second hand stuff that's come to the end of its life, and I have to start recognizing that I'm prolonging its suffering. :( Generally, I've had a pretty peaceful relationship with my disposables, sans my complicated relationship with food and things that make food.

Does a spork feel dormant to you? I can't actually access non-ordinary states of consciousness beyond some dissociation willingly, so these dialogues you've been having... the only equivalent I have is vocal recognition of a spirit and my intuition.