Friday, April 18, 2008

Up on a plain

Today's key to finding some form of contentment or acceptance is zero expectations. What do I mean by 'zero expectations'? I am talking about expecting nothing from your fellow human beings. While I am tempted to talk about having exceedingly low expectations as a way of avoiding disappointment, I think that sort of thinking is more a product of my personal biases and thinking in that way has not led me toward any form of contentedness. In actuality, I am probably less at ease now than I have ever been, despite having incredibly low expectations of human behavior, primarily because all too often, a large percentage of humanity does not ever fail to disappoint. So the solution is not low expectations, because low expectations still carry the burden of having an expectation, and the additional weight of disheartening ones.

Having no expectations frees us from the burden of anticipated behavior, either high or low, and removes a pathway through which the behavior of others can affect one's well-being. I am thinking more and more that there is a pressing need to untangle the individual's thoughts and ideas from what passes for culture in America today. If there is a way to stop giving any attention to what people are doing, and put one's focus exclusively on personal goals and endeavors in life, it only stands to reason that life would be more rewarding by default. Ignore the foundering of society at large and focus entirely on personal integrity, vision, and ascension. Of course, you run the risk of being labelled by any of The Conformed that might be aware of your presence, but what does a conformed person's judgment really matter, in the grand scheme of things?

Not caring may be a poor choice of words. Maybe a better way to put it would be to say that I need to disconnect from any craving to control, contain, or somehow manage the species' collective behavior beyond how it affects me directly. This is, of course, a very Buddhist notion, the idea that our personal suffering is rooted in various material cravings. The craving for behaviors in others that we perceive as being desirable, while potentially being full of positive intentions, is still just a craving. And the hard truth is, I am totally powerless to change the course of the masses. At best, all I can do is stand safely aside and watch the herd graze, meander, and occasionally stampede around, doing my best to stay out of their way.

The danger is that the majority tends to move as a unified mass behind one or two lead animals, so the threat of being run over is always high and anyone outside of the mob has to be aware of sudden changes in their direction, lest they end up under millions of feet. But finding a proverbial hill to watch their antics from has always been something I aspired to do. Maybe it's time...

Labels:

Posted by Erik @ 4/18/2008 12:49:00 PM