Philosophy is a luxury. What about real daily issues? I much prefer realism. It’s all I have.
What happens when you come to a point in your life when there is nothing that brings you complete happiness and joy because the responsibilities outweigh the fun times. And then when you do take the time to reach out for that feeling again, you end up paying for it (negatively) in some way or another. What do you do? Do you accept it? Is that what people do? I really want to know. I understand this lack of (I don’t even know what to call it) is why some people drink or have insane hobbies but doesn’t that just perpetuate the cycle because all it does is add to the financial stress and take away from the time that the responsibilities are not being met.
The first definition I found of realism: the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth.
I dislike hypocrisy, but I can respect honesty. If, then, a decision to lead a practical life is based on an honest and sincere believe that it is right, then there is no contradiction. But in expressing dissatisfaction with a present course of action, it can only be assumed that there has been at least in instant in which something has been sensed to be incorrect in some way. There are several ways I can think of to challenge the assertion that realism is the only way to manage a life that has reverted to one in which responsibility and banality dominate and dictate each moment in a person’s life.
Are you a person of religion? Is that not then a philosophy, or at least a groundwork for how to lead a life? I do not believe we were created to toil and suffer; it just came with the territory of consciousness. We were made to love and create and partake of one another. The constructs that we navigate, put in place before we had anything to do with the design, have the seductive qualities of control and stability and the illusion of safety that are inherent in hegemonic systems. It seems it is something we have been conditioned to accept.
If you say “to hell with all these responsibilities,” what will happen? What is the absolute worst case scenario and is it acceptable? If it is not acceptable, what makes it so?
Rebellion. Fearlessness. Courage. Inner anarchy. Irreverence. It’s a minute-to-minute battle between what the soul knows is right and what the world teaches us to accept. Don’t follow men, don’t follow instruction manuals. Choosing to move against the current will forever engage you in struggle and fatigue. I’ve always held my anger to be my strongest gift, quite possible my only gift (which also makes it a vice). It has allowed me to recognize fallacy and given me the courage to defy it stubbornly. I come from a generation of sullen, angry, over-medicated, sedated, and rebellious peers. I don’t have fear of action is because I don’t have fear of consequence. I don’t fear consequence because I have accepted all possible scenarios even before acting.
In the rebellion and battle, there is suffering and confusion. What *seems* to be chaos and the noise of conscience chattering is so loud that it causes the eyes to water and blur. This is the fight over your very soul taking place and you are witness to it only through subconscious perception, or intuition. I don’t know what comes after the realization of free will.
In my struggle to balance my hate for convention and my understanding that I have to function in a physical plane, I occasionally feel guilt that I don’t push myself harder to involve my family in the rat race of competition. Somewhere in the mix, I know I must teach them to steer these waters. However, I also don’t want to instill any admiration for old ways that do not lead to enlightenment.
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield but to my own strength. Let me not cave in.”
