Maybe the day had a shitty you. But you never consider that, do you? Nooo….It’s always the day that’s the shitty one!
Tag: #bekind
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I have had a theory/belief/mindset for a long time that there is a difference between reality – that which we perceive every day, and Reality – the truth of existence.
This is explained mainly through psychology and biology. Your past experiences color your present ones, and our biology is extremely limited in what we can actually experience via our senses. These two factors alone are enough to conclude that there is not a single human being – past, present or future – who is able to “see” reality for what it truly is.
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To start, some lyrics…
People are people
People are strange
But most of all, people – speaking en masse here – are ignorant, selfish beings that literally drain life from everything. I can’t stand “people”, this is a fact. “People” are why things like war or poverty or violent intolerance or any number of horrible things exist in the first place. “People” suck, plain and simple.
Individuals, however, I can appreciate. Individuals can be kind, compassionate, helpful, willing to at least try to understand opposing views. Individuals can also have bad days where maybe they’re not as kind or forgiving as they truly are. Shit happens, I get that, I’ve done that.
I just had an interesting interaction with the dude at the convenience store. He said, “when someone is ‘people-ing’, I try to just let it go because I don’t know their story or what they’re dealing with with”. I like that. It’s similar to a good person having an “asshole-esque” moment. Sometimes, individuals have “people-esque” moments.
That said, don’t be an asshole. And don’t be a people.
I hope you have a beautiful day!
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I actually witnessed this today, and it made me smile.
I left for an appointment at around 4, and to say traffic was insane would be an understatement. I was waiting in a line of traffic, and I see this car that needs to make a left into this line of traffic. Poor dude looked so stressed; I have no idea how long he had been waiting.
I left some room for him when the car in front of me pulled up a bit. He and his passenger both smiled and waved in thanks. A little ways up the road, and once we had actually started moving some, he did the same for someone else.
I must admit, sometimes I get fed up with being kind in traffic, especially if the other person doesn’t acknowledge it. Seeing someone do the same for another stranger has restored some small measure of my faith in humanity.
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How *does* a duck know?
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My boss, years ago, used to refer to Panera Bread as “Pantera Bread”, which was hilarious. I so wanted to get one of those bread bowl things, paint it black and silver and shit and give it to her, but never wound up doing it. That would have been freaking great. 🤘😆
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I prefer giving belly rubs to female dogs, because there is no winky to avoid, which allows for smoother, longer passes of the hand. Just sayin.
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Part 8 included a conclusion that I do not believe that existence can be a random set of events that simply happen just because they happen. There is some sort of intelligence behind existence, there has to be. There are too many patterns, relationships, cyclic activities…. all of those things defy the definition of random.
So, there is something. But what is it?
My mind wanders to determinism. I’m curious about that still. I can’t say I completely understand it yet, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. While I cannot accept that everything is simply random chance, I also cannot accept that we ultimately have no choice in the things that we do, think, or feel. Growth would never be possible. Healing would never be possible. Evolution of self would never be possible. And these are all things that I know do happen.
The idea behind this post was to explore atheism, and I believe that is the wrong word to explore. I am not saying that atheism is the route to go. On the contrary, I think that a god is a real possibility, but I do believe that the “god” in question is different from the hundreds (or more) that humanity has come up with over the course of our existence. Perhaps the word “agnostic” is more appropriate.
If you’ve read this blog, you know I love the dictionary. I looked up agnostic, and though I agree with the first definition, I took issue with the second, because I immediately thought of indecision, wishy washyness, and general lack of conviction, lack of thought. But that’s not the case. I would say that, when it comes to the existence of god, an agnostic has conviction that there is certainly something, but they cannot, with conviction, say that a particular god is the god. And, at this point, that is where I stand. God is possible. But so are a few other things, and I have no reason to say that one god or one possibility is any more likely than the other.
There are themes that run through most of the major religions. Kindness. Tolerance. A right to life. Forgiveness. There are even historical things that are common – a worldwide flood, for example. If all of these things run through all of these very different religions…. isn’t it possible that none of them is “right”, per say, and it’s the concepts that are correct? If so, would it not make sense that we should live our lives in pursuit of those values, rather than some culturally based ideal of said values?
Side note before I go…. I had a theory, when I was about 15, maybe 16. That tells you how long I’ve been thinking about this shit. Anyway, the theory was that whatever you believed…. the Christian God, Allah, nothingness, purgatory… whatever. Whatever you believed in your heart would be what you experienced. And the issue with that is that I had no idea what would happen to someone like me who didn’t really know what to believe. So yeah, there’s that.
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I love TOOL, anyone who knows me even a little bit knows this. I was running errands before, and a song from Lateralus come on – “Parabola”, and I got to thinking.
This song is actually the second part of a two-song thing, and the first song is called “Parabol”. Lateralus is a killer album, and I listened to it on repeat quite often when I was taking a particularly interesting theoretical math class in college. I chose this song to be played at my best friend’s funeral. I had some doubts about that at the time, because he would have probably preferred a NIN song, or maybe Aerosmith, or something to just say “fuck you” to the world, not caring that it would be considered inappropriate for such a somber occasion. (I had a thought at the time of “Love in an Elevator” or “Head like a Hole” blasting in the funeral home, and though I chuckled, I decided against it.) I chose this song because the lyrics are powerful, and let’s be real here – funerals are for the living. To acknowledge their grief and give them hope that their loved one has moved on to something better. The dead are gone – and they probably (hopefully) don’t feel any sadness at the loss of their lives. At that point, they know and understand something that the rest of us can only wonder about.
A few notes on the song itself. First, the song is named after the graph of a mathematical function. Second, that graph is often used in the description of projectile motion. Thirdly, the first part of this duo is called “Parabol”, pronounced the same as “parable”, which is a word that is actually used in “Parabola”. A parable is a story used demonstrate a moral or religious concept, similar to an allegory. The word parabolic can be used to describe something mathematical, or something related to a parable.
The lyrics themselves talk about the idea that we choose to inhabit human bodies and that we are actually eternal beings, and all of the pain and suffering that we experience in life is an illusion, because there is so much more within existence. A section of the lyrics:
“Swirling round with this familiar parable
Spinning, weaving round each new experience
Recognize this is a holy give and celebrate this
Chance to be alive and breathing
Chance to be alive and breathing
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment
Remember, we are eternal
All this pain is an illusion”
The choice of name for this set of songs astounds me, because it is absolutely perfect. Parabol – parable – something used to teach a lesson. And then parabola – a mathematical representation of motion. It could be that the meaning or intent behind these songs is to say that we move through life in order to learn.
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I can. And I will.
A Peculiar Cerebral Tangle 