Personally, I don’t give a shit about the survival of western society or any other society, tradition or culture for that matter. I think we could do much better and that’s where our focus should lie which is unfortanetly not the case. The problems of this world like poverty, disease and ecology could be solved over night.
Most of us support the status quo and love to see the world as it is. I’m a utopist at heart; an idealist; a dreamer. My life is a war cry against everything that enslaves us. Yet I am also a slave. For now… I do what I can within the confines of my own cage. Maybe one day I will see that life itself is a cage and there is no such thing as freedom except death. But for now, I will continue to delude myself with my liberation fantasies. Why? Lets just say that I have experienced things that are beyond the scope of mere words and thought.
Nor do I feel any particular pride for my own species, gender, nation, etc. I just want to have a great time, live an interesting life and connect people through my art. I really have no country, no religion, no flag. Even age, education level, occupation, financial/social status doesn’t really mean much to me in the bigger scheme of how I look at life. The concepts we have of things like friendship and family are quite narrow minded. We are all orphans together in the great family of life.
Truth, love, beauty, inspiration, pleasure. That’s what drives me and keeps me going, keeps me growing, keeps me pursuing, keeps me experiencing. Keeps me hungry. Everything else is just entertainment value; something to accompany the journey of life to death (according to my dictionary, entertainment is defined as: the action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment). Nothing wrong with that. Even understanding the world around me and education itself is more about entertainment than anything else. Otherwise I wouldn’t care enough to find out. The song Imagine by John Lennon is a great example of this and even the man himself said “this song is a strong political message that is sugarcoated in a beautiful melody.”
I used to care more about things beyond me like living this so-called purist healthy lifestyle and maintaining this so-called hyper moralistic stance (I was an ethical vegan) but this made me miserable which is not very healthy or ethical now is it? I still sort of suffer from this slight messiah-complex. I think I’m slowly getting over it though. Especially after realising that the world doesn’t really need saving. The world is fine. It’s not perfect, it never was and it never will be. Everything changes. Nothing lasts. Me and you will come and go. Nobody really knows what will happen. Lets not succumb to the fallacies of default assumptions anymore than is necessary.
I’ve been through all kinds of phases in my life. I’ve battled with depression. I’ve seen therapists, psychiatrists, etc. I’ve tried recovery methods, social support groups, yoga, meditation, zen, even medication and all kinds of self-help books and spiritual methods from a-z. You name it, I’ve probably tried it. Have they been useful? Sure, probably I’ve learned from all of them. But I also left them all behind because I don’t need them anymore. I have my own method now. I am my own guru. Existence itself is the teacher.
Experience has taught me this:
We choose how we feel. We choose where to put our energies and time. That choice is important to remember. When we forget (or if it is taken from us), problems begin and we feel down and out.
Nowadays I care mostly about myself (like you do too, don’t lie to yourself…) and have noticed that the better I feel, the more I can give to the world. The more I can make sure my choices are working towards what I want to accomplish. Whether my life is meaningful is meaningless.
The more we care about ourselves, the better it is for everyone.
POSTED IN PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY TAGGED ALTRUISM, CARE, COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY,CULTURE, ECOLOGY, EXISTENCE, FUTURE, GURU, IMAGINE (SONG), JOHN LENNON, MARRIAGE,MEDITATION, MESSIAH, NARCISSISM, OBJECTIVISM, POVERTY, PSYCHIATRY, SELF-HELP BOOKS, SELFISH,SUPPORT GROUPS, THERAPY, TRADITION, WESTERN SOCIETY, YOGA, ZEN