Everyday things fill our time. We go to the supermarket. We make food and eat it. We wash ourselves, our garments, our bedsheets, our pets, our cars... We chat with each other - in person, on the phone, at work, at home, in the streets. We walk around a lot, to and fro. We drive everyday. We sleep regularly. We empty our bodies of ablutions. We sometimes read. We look at the computer.
These are all regular things that we do daily. What time is there for anything else? What grander achievements can we expect to slot in to our busy 'basic maintenance' schedules.
There are also things like balancing our finances, paying bills, post office visits, health checks, dentist visits, maybe a course or a fitness class. Something of leisure.
The list goes on. Being a human is busy work. There's a lot going on. Demands. Expectations. Duties. It takes effort just to get from one day to the next. There's always something on top of the regular, too.
Invitations to events. Dinners. Functions. Arrangements. Family obligations. Friends in need.
What time do we have to make plans for a better world? Let alone implement them!
Didn't we think, when we were young and fired up, full of bluster and idealism, that we were going to make a difference? That we could do great things, great things?
What happened?
Life happened. That's what. Life doesn't go the way you think it will. Some bits do, of course. It's not all random. But, overall, mostly, things turn out very, very differently to what we expected.
There's another sticky factor - our beliefs. The hodge-podge mix of input we have brewed up in our heads over our individual evolution into some kind of system/structure that we use to assess and quantify reality and it's never ending stream of new challenges.
What side am I on? Is this group good or bad? Is such and such an action justified because of this or that personal prejudice?
As well, for the religious, there is a whole world of expectations and pressures.
Our world view is in constant flux but at the same time, somewhat rigidly defined. It's made up of all kinds of things that we have filtered and filed. It's got flavours of fact and fiction and we are accustomed to it's taste. We stand by ourselves - as in we believe in what we believe.
But the truth is - it's all just a construct. The space needs to be filled with something. So we fill it. Are there better ways to be? Surely. Are we perfect - or even close? Surely not. We make the best with what we've got.
In many ways, it's a miracle that we all still function on a daily basis. Those in networks - family, friends, work - have a slight advantage. We humans need support. For the loners, the mavericks, the outsiders... it can all get too much.
What I am sharing here is my realisation that the difference between the internal narrative of 'what life could be/how I wish life was' and the external manifestation of how life actually unfolds is, upon examination, immense.
We are not only mortal, with limited powers, it appears that on many levels we are completely inconsequential.
We do what we can with what we have.
No wonder many choose to default to fantasy and escapism. The imagination, dreams - they're good places to go. Things work out there. Things, those great things we thought about long ago - and maybe still, those great things are possible in the inner realm.
For now, that will have to suffice.
These are all regular things that we do daily. What time is there for anything else? What grander achievements can we expect to slot in to our busy 'basic maintenance' schedules.
There are also things like balancing our finances, paying bills, post office visits, health checks, dentist visits, maybe a course or a fitness class. Something of leisure.
The list goes on. Being a human is busy work. There's a lot going on. Demands. Expectations. Duties. It takes effort just to get from one day to the next. There's always something on top of the regular, too.
Invitations to events. Dinners. Functions. Arrangements. Family obligations. Friends in need.
What time do we have to make plans for a better world? Let alone implement them!
Didn't we think, when we were young and fired up, full of bluster and idealism, that we were going to make a difference? That we could do great things, great things?
What happened?
Life happened. That's what. Life doesn't go the way you think it will. Some bits do, of course. It's not all random. But, overall, mostly, things turn out very, very differently to what we expected.
There's another sticky factor - our beliefs. The hodge-podge mix of input we have brewed up in our heads over our individual evolution into some kind of system/structure that we use to assess and quantify reality and it's never ending stream of new challenges.
What side am I on? Is this group good or bad? Is such and such an action justified because of this or that personal prejudice?
As well, for the religious, there is a whole world of expectations and pressures.
Our world view is in constant flux but at the same time, somewhat rigidly defined. It's made up of all kinds of things that we have filtered and filed. It's got flavours of fact and fiction and we are accustomed to it's taste. We stand by ourselves - as in we believe in what we believe.
But the truth is - it's all just a construct. The space needs to be filled with something. So we fill it. Are there better ways to be? Surely. Are we perfect - or even close? Surely not. We make the best with what we've got.
In many ways, it's a miracle that we all still function on a daily basis. Those in networks - family, friends, work - have a slight advantage. We humans need support. For the loners, the mavericks, the outsiders... it can all get too much.
What I am sharing here is my realisation that the difference between the internal narrative of 'what life could be/how I wish life was' and the external manifestation of how life actually unfolds is, upon examination, immense.
We are not only mortal, with limited powers, it appears that on many levels we are completely inconsequential.
We do what we can with what we have.
No wonder many choose to default to fantasy and escapism. The imagination, dreams - they're good places to go. Things work out there. Things, those great things we thought about long ago - and maybe still, those great things are possible in the inner realm.
For now, that will have to suffice.
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