“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.“
——C. S. Lewis
———————————————-
Yes, Mr. Lewis, but even if I was made for another world, I must live in this one.
In this world, I desire love, happiness and a minimization of suffering. That and the awareness to appreciate these things in relation to my environment and behavior.
Is this too much to ask?
Perhaps, but as this world in which I am condemned to inhabit, insists on using market forces to determine value… it would seem my desire must also be subjected (and thus subject) to such forces. I will spare you (my dear reader) my personal (and quite fantastical) take on general economics here, but it will suffice to say that I only begrudgingly accept the above subjugation.
Since my desire must adhere to this marketplace, this place where value is determined by the cold, hard (and quite invisible) hand of transactional dynamics… I choose a path less traveled by. I choose to opt out of this “marketplace” at every opportunity.
It does not always go well.
Still… I am quite aware that my ability to even entertain this course, is a function of my privilege. Most of humanity have precious few options in this area of life. The marketplace is simply the way things are. One seeking even the simplest of survival strategies is constantly compelled to follow it’s force at all times. To imagine otherwise is frivolous folly.
And quite unproductive.
To paraphrase one of my favorite philosophers…
“Yes, we create our own reality but… we don’t actually create our own reality.”
—— Ken Wilber
——
But like Mr. Lewis, I am determined to use my privilege to dream. To dream and share my dreams as liberally as I am able. I do not pretend that my dreams will ever come to fruition, but I am driven despite this “reality” nontheless.
And so (my dear reader) do not look to me for certainty in this area. My certainty is one of intent, not of expectation. The result of desire, not calculation. And I am truly open to all comers. My desire is to foster a yes/and paradigm rather than the age old either/or.
Gone for me is any interest in purely transactional relationships. Those which focus on interactions such as…
“You are either with me, or against me.”
Or…
“If you do this for me, I will do this for you.”
Instead how about…
“Yes, I see you, and hear you. Please try and see and hear me.”
And…
“I will do this for you and anyone else I see who needs it. Period.”
Blessed…
m(___)m
