Some time back while I was walking in the woods, a fox spoke to me about how we can make this a better place. I shared it, but history has changed, and so should this Myth. Right now we need people to talk about how the world can still become a better place, because if nobody does, it won’t happen, so I’m sharing this again. Take the fox’s advice, or don’t, in full or in part, but never stop knowing it’s possible that we could be having fun instead of dealing with this shit.
This is what it said:
You’ve had enough time. You need to realize that Life isn’t supposed to be terrible. We’re made to live with joy, and to have fun. Life should make you happy, or at least satisfied, and if it’s not doing that, then what is it any good for?
Let me lay a few things out for you, and you get the words out there, and you’ll see what happens. A lot of people might get into the idea that there’s a better way, or at least some smart ideas.
What you need to know is that it’s possible to live a life with purpose and satisfaction based on some ideas that are pretty reasonable. This isn’t some kind of mystical nonsense or trite garbage like the kind that gets peddled by people with their pictures all over the place, who constantly talk about “I” this and “my” that and “me” this and “over here, look at this.” This is just a few points that make sense, especially given how messed up the world is at the moment.
Sigh.
It’s helpful to consider that things are messed up but that’s natural. The world is imperfect, if not downright rude, and saying that “everything happens for a reason” or “you create your own reality” is infantile and pointless for 90% of the Earth’s population. Look, I don’t need a laundry list of proofs to illustrate this point. It should be pretty obvious by now.
It’s not all bad, of course; there’s a whole lot of goodness out there. There are amazing feelings, incredible experiences to be had, enlightening things to read, delicious things to eat, and the people in your life who make you happy.
A reasonable way to live life is to try to maximize the goodness, and mitigate the crap. Some nice, easy principles can help with this– it’s a worldview issue. Does your worldview maximize the goodness in your life, or does it at least help shovel through some of the nonsense? If not, it’s no good; you need a new one.
I’m going to explain, because one rule of thumb needs to be don’t trust anybody who won’t give you a good explanation.
We can, and should, be happy. I’m talking about genuine happiness, here.
“Oh,” you’ll say, “but what about people who are happy killing people? Or people who are happy exploiting other people and making money from them?” Shut up, you’re just being difficult. You know what I mean, you’re just trying to be a wise guy, you. You all know what’s good and what’s bad; some of you just choose to ignore it.
See, a god really didn’t create this world you live in. YOU did. You humans, as a whole, are to blame for your own ills, especially when you’re working in the name of gods. The god who created the world and currently has most of the power in it, that’s a false god based on your inability to just leave other people alone.
If there’s a god, it wants you to be happy. Otherwise, that’s an evil, abusive god. But if your myth includes a god, then some theoi out there wants you to be happy, and gave you some tools you can use to try to live a happy life.
For instance, one of the most powerful tools you have is your family. What do I mean by that? I don’t mean your mom and dad and baby; I mean the people you choose to include as your family. It’s a moveable category, not based on genetics, although it certainly can include your genetic relatives. One good way to look at it is that your family is made up of all of the people who you’d want to say goodbye to if you died.
You also do rituals with your chosen family. These are the best, most religious rituals; they could be going out for dinner, or taking a class, or giving the baby a bath, or sitting around watching TV. Sure, you can find holiness by going to a Mass or meditating, but it’s easier and more valuable to spend time with your family.
So this family, who you may not get along with all of the time, which is okay, are the people who make you happy. Since they make you happy, spending time with them and having fun with them and doing things for them is one way you find happiness in your life. When one of your family members does something nice for you, and makes you happy, they’re exercising their power, and everybody benefits. It’s all about consideration.
One of the things that makes life a lot better and more purposeful is consideration. This isn’t like, being considerate or inconsiderate when you meet somebody or open the door for somebody. Consideration is really thinking about other people and events. When you’re truly considerate, you consider things. You’re constantly mulling over the question, “if I was literally this other person, how would what I’m doing impact her? What can I do to make this person’s life a little easier?” Or, you might be mulling over the question, “does this idea really make any sense, and if it doesn’t, is it worth pointing that out?”
Being considerate doesn’t always mean being nice. Let’s put an end to that little rumor right now. Sometimes you need to point out that certain ideas are moronic, regardless of where they’re coming from. There’s a lot of “there are two sides to every coin” talk going around lately, and that’s not always the case. Sometimes people are wrong, and you should react to them with consideration.
Another thing you need to learn is sufficiency. Let me explain: lots of folks are big on the idea of “self-sufficiency,” but there’s really no such thing. Even the most self-sufficient person is usually dependent on other people in some way or another, to make tools or drive busses or pave roads.
Sufficiency, on the other hand, is about having a real understanding of why you’re doing the things you do, and how the things you do contribute to your overall well-being, outside of the vagaries of culture.
So, for instance, it’s a good idea to eat good, mostly healthy food, and to learn how to make good, healthy food, and to stay clean and keep from getting sick as well as you can. It’s not all “you have to be vegan, or you should never watch TV, or you should avoid all fast food.” Instead, it’s about knowing what is sufficient for you, and acting on that instead of on the signals you get from the imperfect world around you.
Family. Consideration. Sufficiency. That’s a pretty reasonable conversation, right?
I can tell you’re not totally convinced yet. That’s okay; that’s why I’m going to explain it to you….
To be continued….