Human Ideals

“We all have a soul family, the ones that ignite and support our truth. They feed something in us we weren't aware we needed before them. They'll make you face yourself and become raw and authentic. You'll roam but never too far from each other for the invisible thread of connectedness; once opened can never be locked. They are the ones who will see you through all the important days of your life no matter what tributes and trials you face. They'll just be there, in presence, in synchronicity or in spirit.” ― Nikki Rowe As we go about each day and face the trials and tribulations of life, we confide in those whom we believe to know who we truly are.  This connection comes in many forms, be it through family, friends, partners, siblings, and so forth, each with their own unique emotional signature.  Now, being that the universe works in polarities, every collective bond must come with one that is rooted in conflict, be it internal or external.  We are all familiar...

“To do things right, we need to UNITE black and white, red and blue, blue and white - all stars and stripes. We need to either apply all the lessons from the past - or get rid of all the stories and START AGAIN. This is what the world needs. Our unity. In our schools, neighborhoods, communities, state offices and economic equations. Choosing to stand with the right wing or left wing, or this group or that group, is only going to keep this country divided and grounded. In the end, all human needs are the same and they will never change. So what is there to fight about? Let's hit restart and unite.” - Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem So, I’ve never been much of a political person for most of my life, but it has been interesting to see the opposing views between the left and the right regarding the identity politics that has been going on in recent years.  Now, I haven’t delved that deeply into the subject, but it all appears to be one pointle...

“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” ― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life The truth is that life is going to be indifferent to our struggles no matter how we choose to cope with them.  With that said, this indifference is perhaps the only time in which our core values are put to the test.  In death, we mourn...

“I am an absurd idealist. But I believe that all that must come true. For, unless it comes true, the world will be laid desolate. And I believe that it can come true. I believe that, by the grace of God, men will awake presently and be men again, and color and laughter and splendid living will return to a grey civilization. But that will only come true because a few men will believe in it, and fight for it, and fight in its name against everything that sneers and snarls at that ideal.” ― Leslie Charteris, The Last Hero What is idealism?  This question is often met with condescension if not outright dismissal.  We renounce this belief as being nothing more than a childish fantasy, one that is of no use in the oh-so-pragmatic “modern age”.  This may be true if taken at face value.  Sure, there’s a bit of daydreaming here and there, but idealism can and should extend beyond the world of dreams. Idealism is usually associated with Romanticism, although this isn’...

“If you stumble about believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?” ― Yann Martel, Life of Pi Often times, people tend to question values outside of their beliefs.  Rarely do you find people questioning the individuals representing these values, or at least, taking the time to know the inner psyche of said person.  They may question one’s principles, but not one’s character.  Until they find a reason to. Now, what happens when our sense of self is questioned?  Do we focus our energy in trying to fix our character?  Do we realign our values just for the subjective experiences of those around us?  A part of us knows that their perceptions are subjective.  Yet, why do we believe that these notions are inherent to reality, limiting who we could be as a person?  We as huma...

“Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know.” ― Alan W. Watts The self is a concept that people spend their whole lives trying to grasp. It determines our notions of what is real, what is moral, what has purpose. What we call "I" is responsible for the boundaries within our external environment and within our own mind. The question we fail to ask ourselves is not only a matter of "Is there a distinction between these concepts" but rather "Should there be a distinction?". To ask this question is to question the validity of what we hold to be true, and the validity of ourselves. We know that the beliefs we hold will never be truly "objective", whatever that means. The reason why we avoid abstract questions like these is because we come to ask ourselves "If nothing is objective, then am "I"...

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering."  - Friedrich Nietzsche As humans, we tend to run away from pain rather than learn from it. Often times, it's when we have a hard time forgiving ourselves that we try to avoid who we are at our worst. We are reminded of how we fall prey to insecurity, vanity, narcissism. The pain that comes from our own actions haunts us because we allow it to. We aim for a sort of moral perfectionism, agonizing over every personal flaw in the process. We are afraid of what Carl Jung called, "the shadow self". It is the avoidance of this dark side that limits us from becoming our ideal self. Becoming your ideal self requires for one to embrace the shadow self. We call this conflict between the two sides, "optimism". People often mistake the word for delusion. This tends to occur when conflating "optimism" with "idealism". Idealism is nothing more but a c...