Beginning at Beginning

from bi- "be" + W.Gmc. *ginnan, of obscure meaning, found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open up"

O.E. *steortian, *stiertan, Kentish variants of styrtan "to leap up" (related to starian "to stare"), from P.Gmc. *sturtjan- (cf. O.Fris. stirta "to fall, tumble," M.Du. sterten, Du. storten "to rush, fall,"

If beginning is opening, it lacks trajectory. There is no towards open. A thing is either open or closed.

I open a door. I feel it in open in my hand. I shift my weight first from first foot to second, to first. It swings on two arms, mine and its own. A door opens around my body. I open with it.

If starting is leaping, it is defined by trajectory. It is not a change of state. It is an orientation towards a finishing.

When I start my, finishing necessarily remains out of site, since if finishing were in site I would not be starting.

By starting towards that which is out of site, I limit the extent to which I can see all that is finishing nearby.

I forgo opening and being opened, closing and being closed.