What kind of person?

Is life so infinitely complex as to defy explanation, or a meaningless collection of random happenings that requires no explanation, other than, “Shit happens?”

What kind of person are you?

A) A person who seeks meaning within the complexities of life. You believe there is an overall progression towards something better or higher; with every thought, feeling, action, inaction, and event being an indispensable contribution towards this upward spiral.

B) A person who believes there is no rhyme or reason to anything that happens. You respond only to the here and now, exploiting whatever feels good and discarding the remainder; relegating the past to nothing more than a comic routine of random events that no longer have any relevance; and avoiding any consideration of the far-off future, leaving it to sentimental Hallmark cards and science fiction fanatics.

C) A person who just goes with the flow for now, having decided that you have no clue as to what is going on or not going on, and waiting for more information or clarification before deciding whether to contribute more to life, or continue being directed by fate, random events, or the loudest voice in the crowd.

There is no right or wrong answer, but most assuredly you fit into one of the three categories, maybe alternating between them, depending upon current circumstances or your changing frame of mind. And sometimes, you may find yourself somewhere between the three alternative mindsets, feeling confused as to whether you are or should be A, B, or C.

No guarantees

“It’s the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee.”
~ Nicholas Sparks

We live in a universe of possibilities with no guarantees. The combined effect of imagination, attitude, behavior, and fate determines what transforms from the possible to the probable, and less often the actual. “Close, but no cigar,” may be your most reasonable expectation in life. You are a player, not a guarantor, within the universe of possibilities; the co-creator of your experiences, without having a say in the final outcomes. That is the house rule, whether you accept it or otherwise.

The unknowable reality

“Look at the tree in front of you. Are you actually looking at the tree or is thought looking at it? Hear the crow cawing. Are you listening to it, or are you identifying the sound with the bird? Can you look at somebody without the image that you have about that someone?”
~ J. Krishnamurti

Alan Watts and a subset of other philosophers, such as J. Krishnamurti, traded in the typical workings of the human brain for a reality without thoughts, mental images, symbols, and other brain sponsored filters and coloring. Their core ideal was to not confuse the map with the territory – a common slogan for this movement back in the not so distant past.

Being a Krishnamurti fan back in my college days, I would often sit cross-legged in front of a big old tree, attempting to perceive it without any previous mental or emotional associations with the word “tree” or its image. However, as Krishnamurti would have likely pointed out, my effort to perceive with an empty mind would be filled with expectations – thoughts and images – of what a tree without memories of trees would look and feel like, and so any effort was doomed to failure, and it was. My noble effort was just as ridiculous as trying to hear and know the sound of one hand clapping, another one of those koans or puzzles offered by the thoughtless thinkers of the past – the gifted or practiced ones who “supposedly” achieved empty mindedness.

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Unfinished

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
~ Lao Tzu

Despite the inevitability of change, you pursue the finished in people, places, things, situations, and achievements. However, nothing is ever finished, despite your habit of seeking the finished within the unfinished, your desire to finally ARRIVE and say this is my place, my time, my lover, my body, my property, my talent, my success, my legacy, etc.

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Camouflaged impressions

I’ve noticed that nothing is what it seems, and that I’m never too old to be fooled by something or someone. Never fully trust a first impression, nor any subsequent impressions for that matter. There is always something you’re not aware of, maybe the unpleasant surprise waiting for you, camouflaged with impressions.