At an early age, we experience the judgment of others. The unmitigated harshness of reality is painful and difficult to understand. The majority of us retreat within ourselves in hopes of shielding ourselves from the pain of further criticism from our fellow travelers upon this chaotic spinning ball that serves as a de facto prison. As a result, we make cellmates of our hopes, dreams, and passions that propel us forward into an unknown future. The only certainty is that our existence is finite. Our goals and our expectations for the future minuscule and seemingly unimportant when we consider the universe, and it’s grand scale. Some can shrug off the pain of the past and seek to meet the world as our true selves. Continue reading “Chameleons and Truth”
Category: Philosophical Ramblings
Appearances and all that….
We live in a world where appearance is everything. It goes to such extremes that substance no longer matters to many, just the semblance of something substantial. If one can appear to be benevolent, then they consider themselves, thus, while never bothering to put in the work required to be what they project. Work a term that most trumpet but never actually do, instead they spend half of their lives seeking to avoid any real effort of any kind. They rail against the injustice of the world’s persecution; persecution they believe has been unjustly wrought at the hands of seeds they have sown. A world where everyone is only too happy to imitate the haphazard approach to life that so many seem to propagate.
We live our lives set one against another, all while smiling and pretending to love our fellow man. A fraction of us comprises what is, in effect, a minority. We are the ones that feel born out of time, disconnected phantoms of a long-forgotten past. We glide from one illusion to the next, hoping to find a crumb of truth or anything authentic, but instead, we see more phantasms. Throngs that exist as cheap facades, imitations of what humanity should be, but never entirely made manifest before the eyes. The old souls, the loners, the intuitive, only see wisps of existence. The singular hope that keeps us moving forward is to find that one true refuge, one like no other that sees the world as we do and offers real love and affection, a safe harbor from this perpetual hell of idiocy.
That refuge is out there. It can be found, and once discovered, it will make all of the suffering and the enduring of the cheap dime novel characters that many affectionately call people worth it. Life all too often is like some low budget film; all the class of a wino and even fewer manners. We all have a purpose, it can be a painful journey for those of us that are observant and understand the depths of depravity to which humanity has become submerged. The outcasts, those with a gift not given to all, have a burden, unlike all the rest. We see what others don’t, we feel the things that others can’t or lack to capacity to feel. We spot the lies, the little deceptions played out daily, not just those inflicted upon us but all the ones inflicted upon those we know.
We often can’t communicate what we know to the people we choose to care about, because they don’t understand us. We find ourselves alienated from what many call ordinary people. To these “normies,” we are the crazy ones because we are different, we don’t conform to a society that no longer honors truth and integrity. It pays lip service to all the right ideas, but when it comes time to put up or shut its everyman for himself. Loyalty is just another illusion in a society built upon foundations of sand. This isn’t merely a critique of modern society, but historically as well.
All power structures follow similar patterns. Whether it be a social hierarchy, government, private institutions, and even religious foundations. Each creates adversarial roles among its constituents, ensuring that only the coldest and heartless among us ever rise to leadership roles. You have to be willing to crush the other fellow’s hopes and dreams so that you might realize your own, assuming that your dream is power. My goal has never been power. I dream only for love, acceptance, honesty, and peace every day and a place to hide away from the world with someone worthy of a love as strong as mine. Those of us that have found people difficult, those that are different, we are unique and very worthy of that place of refuge. There is a heart out there that yearns for each of us, for we are different because we were designed that way with purpose. Life is learning, and love is a journey, not merely a destination.
The Merits of Authenticity
Life is tumultuous and often a cruel teacher of the humanities. We emerge as babes, and some us remain such somehow unafflicted by the chaos that living upon this Earth generates. Society instructs us to hide our true nature and intent from the world in hopes that somehow we will emerge from life unscathed by the ambitions of others. In practice, we don masks of conformity to assimilate into a society of imposters. Each plays a role designed to fool others, and often many of us forget who we were before we began the masquerade. We establish norms for a society that in no way reflect our actual values and cheapen the lives that all of us lead. Continue reading “The Merits of Authenticity”
The Naivety of Babes
Life is the summation of experience. To say we have lived isn’t a statement made lightly. We grow old, and as our lives progress, we realize that living is about learning and that learning does not occur without suffering. It is the one constant of the human condition. To truly live is to live with the knowledge that we are all infants grasping at the tendrils of hope just over the horizon, recoiling from the inherent dangers we perceive real or imagined. To honestly exist is to realize that we know nothing of our fellow man and his struggles, we cannot grasp the depths of his insecurities and genuinely understand the turmoil that exists just beneath the surface. It is the folly of youth that seeks to reprimand and tell others right from wrong. Continue reading “The Naivety of Babes”
Unearthing Truth
Since the dawn of man, humans have been consummate explorers. We started by exploring over the next rise in search of resources and new horizons. From those humble beginnings, we began to understand the vastness that is Earth. We became so enthralled by this planet of ours that our ancestors believed it to be the epicenter of the universe. Such thoughts accompanied other thoughts such as the world was flat, dragons and other creatures populated unexplored distances, and that if one went too far, one would fall off the edge of our world. Economic necessity eventually dispelled such notions as a way was sought overseas to shorten the trade route known as the Silk Road with India. Continue reading “Unearthing Truth”
Unbarred Hearts
The world can be a dark and unforgiving place filled with a multitude of obstacles. Each of us makes our way through the morass as best as we can. It isn’t just nature that challenges us along the way. Fellow human beings also challenge us either directly or indirectly as they seek to procure resources for themselves and their families. The world can at times seem cold and unforgiving even to the strongest. At times, it seems as if it is every-man for himself. A kind word or helping hand can make a huge difference in the lives of all people. Giving has become a rarity in a society that is ever-evolving and ever-increasing in pace. Continue reading “Unbarred Hearts”
Reality:What is it really?
We have all got our notions of what constitutes reality. Philosophy tells us that reality is both subjective and objective. Science seems to embrace the objective nature of reality while acknowledging the limits of our perceptions. The objective is, of course, that which we can see, touch, and manipulate physically. Subjective reality relies on how each perceives the world based on personal bias, previous experience, and often what the viewer expects to see. Reality is far more complex than the average person cares to entertain within the limited scope of their existence. Instead, the vast majority are content to progress towards eventual extinction never questioning why or how they came to be or what if any meaning can be ascribed to life as we know it.
The Irredeemable
The heart goes where it wills. We often find ourselves led about as if controlled by puppeteers, due to the desires of our heart. The heart is big and all-encompassing in its capacity for darkness and light. We fill our hearts with love and despair, hate and disgust. A world where good and evil can exist within one soul, and where the greatest acts of love and evil can be carried out by the most malevolent and benevolent of us all. The soul becomes imbalanced within many of us, and we lose our way. Some find their way back from the encroaching darkness in time to save themselves from deliberate destruction. Many of those that darken the path to hate and despair never find their way out and self-destruction and destruction of those around them become as automatic as drawing breath. Continue reading “The Irredeemable”
Progressive Retrogression
Existence is a minefield, dotted with pitfalls aesthetically differing yet familiar in their consistent and constant barrage upon our consciousness. From birth we strive forward unsure of our place in the world, believing that we might gain sufficient wisdom with which to avoid our previous follies. Instead, as creatures of habit, we find ourselves drawn by invisible forces towards repeated violations of our well being. As we each differ slightly, we fall into traps seemingly constructed just for ourselves. We’ve been told that experience is the greatest teacher and we are but unwilling students. Still learning to avoid the desires of our souls that so often lead to calamity is a struggle without end. Continue reading “Progressive Retrogression”
Who can you rely on?
Our existence is a trial from which there is no escape. We all lose in the end. Time ravages all it touches from the highest peaks to lowest valleys. The human condition is one of continuous degradation at the hands of time, other people, and frequently ourselves. We feel besieged from every angle, and even imagine a multitude of horrors that never manifest creating a constant sense of urgency in our lives. Time, an illusion created by humanity ironically becomes his greatest enemy. Throughout our meager existence, we seek allies with which to face adversities that have been primarily forged by our fellow human beings. Continue reading “Who can you rely on?”
