REALITY, CONVENTIONS, AND OUR PLACE IN BETWEEN.
We live in an age of digital divination. With a touch of a button, we can acquire more knowledge we can think of. I mean, Google earns nearly $20 billion dollars in advertising revenues every year. And yes, a good portion of those things are anything but credible sources of information, but for the sake of this post, I will be dipping into exaggerations and dramatics in order to make a point. Don’t take this post at face value, because it’s spruced up in order to get the gears turning. The internet is the largest network of data in the world, with more information than a single person has time in their life to learn about. Universities don’t go bankrupt because some of the knowledge they teach is coveted and esoteric and society needs proof that we’ve studied it, or because the professors have unique, thought-provoking lectures that get people more thinking. And they do it all for paper.
Paper is shoveled in, sorted through, and shoveled out all in the name of profit and the betterment of individual existence. A student consumes large portions of their time (or makes deals with faceless corporations to offer time in the future) on amassing small fortunes of paper abstractions to be handed over to these houses of learning, only to lose four or more years of their lives to receive a single sheet of glossy paper that is a physical manifestation of “bragging rights” and some (usually) important information. Put in this perspective, especially when we know the internet is out there with most of this information, it seems rather annoying that we are required by society to go to these institutions, bleed money into them, and spend several years in devotion only so that we can walk around, waving a eloquently crafted piece of paper in people’s faces to prove that we studied something.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to know that the woman or man who is going to cut you open or deliver your child is trained and educated. It’s important to know that the person piloting the aircraft you’re traveling in knows how to land. Etc. etc. But when we all take a step back and look at society, sometimes it’s easy to get a tad bit existential and maybe a little nihilistic. What’s the point of all of this?
We’ve created these abstractions, these illusions, and conventions so that we can better understand one another and find a place in this world. Could you imagine a world wherein proof of experience or knowledge wasn’t required to design our beautiful skyscrapers? It could be quite disastrous. Time (seconds, minutes, hours, etc) is another convention created by mankind to help us make agreements with one another. It’s a very useful convention, mind you, and one that I personally love to study and explore and I certainly wish I had more of it. Nevertheless, we have a (possibly previously determined) amount of this “time” left on this earth and we choose to spend it in pursuit of constructs and abstractions and symbols.
We’ve separated ourselves from reality with these conventions. Burning the American flag is extraordinarily illegal, but burning up the entire country is okay, so long as we get a share of the paper that we get in exchange. People have convinced us and we have even tried to convince ourselves that we’re happier with money than with wealth, or that we’re better off this way. And this comes, in my own understanding, from our education. Our education is purely cerebral. There are plenty of practices, of course, that schools teach us to help save lives or change the world, but some (I’d argue many) of the courses that we are taught help us achieve very little in terms of improving the quality of life. Many people assuming having more money improves the quality of life and don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly nice to have money and not have to stress about bills or worry that you’re going to end up on the street. But we’re taught from a young age that we have a role to play in society, in this game we call life, and that if we’re not living up to it, or if we’re breaking the rules, we’re going to be penalized by the referees.
But that’s where we come in.
We’re witches. Conventions dictate that magic has no place in the world, that it doesn’t exist, that our abilities or gifts are nothing more than psychological disturbances. People will always try and squish you into an identity because human nature demands that we fear what we can’t understand. They educated themselves, or were educated to believe in a particular set of rules. The game, for them, doesn’t allow for the belief in magic. It doesn’t allow for a belief in you. Remember that you are not a single identity. You’re a complex of creativity. You are not part of the ordinary. You can’t break out of societal conventions without causing serious damage to the status quo. If that’s what you want, then pursue with wholeheartedly. But for those of us that want to live in the world and not be sucked up and ruled by it, learn to use those conventions to your advantage and don’t let them take advantage of you.
It’s my hope that we never let go of who we are and that we not only accept it, but that we learn from it. We are extraordinary. Invite the big questions into your life. Who are you? What do you want? And then listen. Listen to God, the Universe, your Inner Self, or whatever else you choose to call the voice that is humming to you. It’s singing right now, vibrating like a string pulled tight between reality and conventions. When you ask those questions sincerely and you listen with an open heart, unafraid of what the answers will be, you’ll start to feel your truth resonate with you. Don’t be afraid to express what you experience with us. We’re all students here. We’re all learners. No matter what has happened in the past, or what is coming from the future, we’re all here together now. The only time to wake up, to experience life, and to be your truest self, is immediately .
I love you all, and hope this has been an interesting read. Happy Easter, and may you all have a blessed week.
Reality and Conventions
|
