Tag Archives: false gods

No Gray Crayons

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Choose your weapon. Pick your side. Never waver, wiggle, or compromise. We are swimming in a strict sea of black and white, and there’s no room in the water for those troublemaking tints.

This is the line in the sand of modern society. You wear the uniform, adopt the language, and blindly follow the Pied Piper’s tune like rats running out of Hamelin.

Common sense, intuition, and gut instincts be damned. If the coach says to do it, the team snaps to action. When your job is only to acquiesce, there’s no reason to hold tightly to ideals or personal convictions. Free will and independent thought are luxuries no longer afforded to a populace too inept or apathetic to speak up, speak out, or take action.

As someone who comfortably resides in the velvety soft embrace of extremes, with little interest in equivocation or vacillation, there is certainly value in being doggedly resolute. But personal lifestyle choices, habits, and routines do not affect society as a whole. When millions of lives are instantly transformed because of indiscriminate idolatry, we have a much scarier dragon to slay than my unremittingly repetitive diet and germ-killing compulsion.

So, how does a rainbow make its way into the final act of this nightmarish noir? How can we convince those wearing boots caked in concrete reluctance to step away from the safety of the flock settled on the edges and investigate the middle of the road? Meeting halfway has to be disguised as victory, a kind of triumph of the will, or an act of selfless accommodation.

Dress it up. Put sparkles on it. Whatever.

Just peel those fingers away from the security of the wall and move slowly into the center. The periphery is ultimately unsustainable, and everyone eventually runs out of enough room to retreat.

Adolescence Interrupted

Self-Actualized or Dead Inside?

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“When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain, or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love, and self-esteem.”  —Abraham Maslow

Is walking through this world entirely untroubled by the perspective or judgment of any other human being indicative of some Buddhist-like sense of self-assurance, or is it simply born from a perpetually hollow, empty core that sits like a dry well, incapable of registering the emotional message being delivered by my fellow carbon-based cronies?

Lately, I’ve been pondering this odd dissonance and trying to arrive at some definitive conclusions.

I am not unaware of criticisms. I am simply unaffected by them.

I value opinions and suggestions from those I admire and respect, but I am not easily swayed to re-examine my stance, reconsider my position, or reverse course without a period of prolonged, thoughtful scrutiny. Generally, my initial view remains intact, with some slight, subtle alterations to the foundation. 

I welcome feedback but am not impacted by negative reviews, harsh critiques, or unfavorable assessments. Like a stream of words in water, passing by on their way to another destination, I see the shapes and textures but never get wet.

I rarely experience hurt feelings, jealousy, envy, or desire of any kind. 

I celebrate the success of others as opposed to resenting it, but I never want to trade lives or circumstances with someone else.

The monotony of this hamster wheel hell called human existence never compels me to cheat, steal, or manipulate my way to a higher status or social position. Who has the most toys, followers, or fans is entirely irrelevant. Material possessions and ego-driven adoration are nothing but anvils affixed to our necks.

As elusive as the pursuit often feels, I strive to find balance and equity in all things, and I reject the notion that people in power positions have the right to discard or diminish the efforts of those so easily and thoughtlessly sequestered and banished to some concocted concept of a lower group, caste, or class.

I routinely rage at my own blinding inability to maintain full control in an increasingly uncontrollable world, and I’m baffled by the discordant mindsets of those who are perfectly comfortable following the false god of public opinion while swallowing endless twisted stats and facts like kids overdosing on Halloween candy.

Hmm. Guess I can scratch self-actualized off the list.

Adolescence Interrupted