So, yesterday I wrote about just how much beauty and inspiration can be found, or could be found, in this world, if we were to open up our minds and free up our calendars. Now, this is all well and good, it feels great to imagine that the world is one huge source of inspiration, this amazingly vast and awe-inspiring, beautiful work of art, which is a blessing to live in and to get to experience. It’s really a comforting thought, isn’t it? But wait; if I’m saying that inspiration can be found everywhere, within any event or situation, and that it is up to us to adjust our perception so that we may be open to it, why am I then complaining about a 9-to-5 lifestyle and the subsequent depression that I claim often arises from it? Shouldn’t work be a source of inspiration as well? Well, you wouldn’t be wrong if you said so. For example, as a call center agent, I might complain that life is passing me by, that the world is going on out there, while I sit inside in solitude, bored out of my mind, wasting my time, and my life in general. I wouldn’t be wrong, but I wouldn’t be completely right either. Whose calls am I taking anyway? Aren’t these calls being put through to me by other real human beings, beings who are also ‘out there’, living their lives in the real world? If this interaction is a part of ‘the real world’ for them, then isn’t it the same for me? Is our conversation not taking place in ‘the real world?’ Yes, it is, I am helping people out with real problems they are experiencing, even if the problems are nowhere near life-and-death. So, am I saying that call center work, or any other job, can be just as meaningful as anything else in life? To a certain extent, yes, but not really. See, when we ponder these ideas, things like infinite possibilities for inspiration, and the mysterious beauty of the world, we don’t imagine mundane, everyday interactions. For some reason, we imagine adventure, we imagine love, passion, we imagine grandeur and glory, we feel infused with a tremendous sense of meaning which we long to find, so that our lives may feel like they’re truly worth living. Why do we imagine such things? Why are we not satisfied with what is already in front of us, with the lives we already live? Could it be that we are just ungrateful, and that we just can’t ever be truly satisfied with what we already have? Perhaps that has something to do with it, but I believe there’s another deeper, more important reason, which is that the things we spend so much time doing these days are not things we are really meant to be doing, they are not activities that truly connect with our spirit. So, what things are we actually meant to be doing? We can’t say that only activities that take place in nature are valid, because as human beings, we are bound to think, and if we think we are bound to try to create. We create objects called tools, so that we can create more objects with them, and so on. The natural world of our thoughts and ideas is in a constant dialogue with the world of physical reality and of material objects, so there is really no separation. So, what is my basis for stating that most of the things we spend our time doing in today’s society do not connect with our spirit and actually prevent us from finding the meaning we so desperately desire? Why is it so hard to find meaning in everyday conversations we have while on the job? Do our customers have nothing to offer us in terms of insight or inspiration? These are all really tricky questions with multiple dimensions of answers, and if I were to attempt to go into all those possible dimensions, I wouldn’t finish this post today, so I think I’ll let the ideas float around in my head for a bit longer, and we’ll dive deeper into them tomorrow. As always, if you read this post, I truly appreciate your time and attention. Wishing you all the best, stay blessed.
If you have a few minutes please check out my instrumental ambient song ‘divine dreams.’ It means a lot to me, and I appreciate your listen. Much love.
rebel eye 