What is life all about, and why are we here? You’ll get a variety of answers to those questions, although most of them will have something to do with learning to love each other, gaining in our awareness, and doing the best that you can with the choices that you make. Pretty simple – pretty basic, isn’t it? And hey, those are nice answers … nice, simple answers for nice, simple people who can hear something like that, feel comfortable in their little world, and go-on in just the same way as they always have. Why bother with any great effort? There’s no ‘big deal’ to life! So there you have it: the meaning of our existence wrapped-up in a bright, friendly package without worries. So now that that’s taken care of, anyone want to go see a movie? You want to hear what ‘that bitch’ said to me at work … how about a hand of that game – Cards Against Humanity – that might be fun …
This world is full of ‘arm-chair’ spiritualist … just regurgitate the right flowery words, say you ‘love everyone’, and there you go: a fashionable identity that automatically labels you as a ‘good person’ without any true effort … fast and convenient, just how we like most everything in this world. People’s limited attention spans are another good example of this kind spiritual apathy, or fear of anything that gets ‘too complicated’. You know, once I was making a video on the subject of life (because apparently no one wants to actually READ anymore) and I was told not to make it much longer than a couple of minutes … each sequence shouldn’t be any longer than about eight seconds, because otherwise people will lose interest. Maybe if I was handsome and well known, well than maybe it could be a bit longer … maybe if I put-in a few images of skulls and attacked some popular politician, then maybe I could draw it out some more? Same with my writing: you’ve got to make it ‘commercial’ or no one will ever give a damn what you say. Hmmm, perhaps I should start matching this stuff with some pictures of busty babes in bikinis … or mutilated zombies – that will get their attention! WHY … so why will it get their attention? Why is there this aversion to anything that might make a person really think about reality? Well, here’s a short answer that still only a handful of people out there will probably fully understand: because fear is easier than courage. Stay in the shallows of reality … don’t go too deep, because that’s where ‘simple life’ starts to get a bit more complicated … it gets too intimidating, too confusing, and too much effort to bother with, right?
Can you detect a bit of sarcasm in my words … maybe a little frustration or anger? Yeah, it can get to me too. Perhaps I shouldn’t talk like this? Have I forgotten all of those lofty, loving words that I’ve been spewing out there for years? Hey Mr. Thomas, don’t you usually try to give these little blurbs of yours a more positive, empowering air that people can feel good about reading? What gives? Well I’ll tell you my friends: life is simple, but sometimes living can be a lot more complicated.
Finding wisdom is different than retaining it, and then applying it into our daily lives. It’s easy to feel compassion when everything is going smoothly … easy to say life is a state of mind, until something unexpected comes along and smacks you in the face. We can have a conversation about how emotion directly influences the creation of our reality, but it’s another thing to take it seriously enough to catch ourselves in the act, when emotions are running strong and ‘no one is looking’. Am I right? “Easier said than done …” goes the expression – and yet it is the doing which really makes the difference! Yeah, it’s NOT so simple … it takes a lot of effort to keep-track of yourself … it takes self-discipline, humility, and you have to really care about the world and your part of it. You have to take it seriously, while still maintaining a bit of humor to keep your sanity (talk about multidimensional reality!) … it’s a balance of many factors, often without knowing what all of those factors are! It’s … complicated.
So, what’s my point? My point is that there is a difference between life and living it … that all of the philosophy out there is meaningless until it is actually applied, and applying it takes a continual effort. Knowing yourself, and understanding our reality, is a journey – not a ‘drive to the park in the afternoon’, but an on-going process of learning, changing, then learning more. And, with that learning, you have to have the courage to take action – to keep expanding yourself and to keep growing as a soul. Each step that you take reveals something more.
Life IS simple: love, learn, and do the best that you can. Living is often rather complicated, because that’s where theory and high ideals have to be made manifest, and that means work … that means thinking, that means changing who you are, and that means diving into those deep waters of truth where it may not always be so comfortable or convenient. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” said Edmund Burke … and I for one will not stand for that! ‘Evil’ is often just the ignorance and apathy and fear that we hold within – and the ‘nothing’, is our failure to apply what we know. More relies on your efforts for living than you probably realize … so don’t give-up, don’t give-in … sure you’ll make mistakes, and that’s okay, but don’t let that stop you! Just take it one step at a time, and I think you will find that although living can be tough, so are you!
Best wishes to all ~ and stay strong, my friends.