Portals, Connection, Projection - Philosophy Talk

 

    Our world is turning every day (in case you missed it.) During this passage of time I feel like I'm on a boat floating by all the people that I cannot believe have already lost, and not just close to me. It's a very bizarre feeling whenever you hear someone you know pass before they get a chance to live, no matter if they were family or not. Time feels like a race, and the people around you are going down as you run. It's terrifying.

    

    But we hold onto the little things that bring us joy; what makes life worth it all and cling to them desperately. Life feels like surviving more than it ever has before, and if I'm correct I think it may actually get worse. I'm holding onto the mindset of being fair when everything is unfair, being kind when you don't have to. Being understanding all the time; it's so fucking tiring. "Be human. Be gentle to yourself." Be this, do that. Cut yourself slack, but push yourself far. For me, it's a confusing time to be human.

    When you're finally an adult you often look back at the things that you should've done. I try not to do that to myself. I think about how naive I used to be, and I never want to be like that again. Perhaps if I knew what I know now, I would, but doesn't everyone wish they could do that?

    Right now I'm working on a novel about a girl who finds a lost dog, and then loses it. It's everything I want in my stories; a realistic fiction with a slight sci-fi, fantasy edge to it. I believe in writing something that just crosses the line between fantasy and reality. Magic and science. Gods and humans. The characters in it grapple with an unusual superpower: they are able to cross over into a reality where no humans exist anymore. No humans no gods.

    

    I've been thinking a lot about this concept of manifestation, shifting, and creating your own reality. When I was a kid I got into astral projecting, which is a type of deep meditation that requires a lot of concentration in order for your spirit to leave your body. You can explore your planet, or other realms should you decide you want to do that. Some call it lucid dreaming, others count it as a legitimate experience. I can tell you that I've had my own experiences that are personal to me, but that's not why I'm writing this.

    The fun of being able to completely alter your reality lies in its no barriers approach. I was so inspired by the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, that I thought; man I gotta write something like that one day, but maybe less sci-fi and more stream of consciousness driven. Something that has even more to say. 

You can say that if you had everything you ever wanted, lived any life that you could, the universe would become quite boring at the ease of your abilities to do so. You can do whatever you want, but do you want that? I think the point of Everything was that the only thing that can make you happy is yourself, and the people that love you and care for you. Everybody is facing the same problem in different facets, so it's easy to say that you envy someone's life when you live with the ignorance of their experience.

I wish I could explain this without sounding preachy, but if you thought that, just know that I am figuring this all out at the same time you are, dear reader. Humanity is making efforts to move into equilibrium, at least that's what I like to believe. Think about this for a moment: the internet has allowed us to be mass connected, to respond in mass. That means cultures can develop independent of the physical world, one culture that is. And sure, there are people that disagree with others, so you could say all these ideas are floating around like cells. Sometimes morphing together, sometimes splitting apart. But what is the true nature of atoms and molecules if not to come together to form something larger and more complex? 

the image i'm trying to convey here

    There's this neat theory that aliens don't have vocal chords because they don't need them (stay with me here, this isn't about whether or not aliens exist I promise.) I was fascinated by that idea. Imagine a being that could talk to you without physically doing so because you are sharing one consciousness. This is what I think is happening. The only thing that's stopping me from saying that definitively is the argument that "we have never been more disconnected," in our real lives because of social media and phones. I can definitely see merit in that, but what a lot of people are missing is that technology is a tool, not something to be dependent on for connection and life. I'm not sure where our human side begins and the tech ends anymore. That may be something that we're struggling to balance. I haven't heard an attempt to talk about this without it sounding like complaining or fear mongering. I think we should look at it more neutrally. You can't do anything about the progression of technological ability, so that's where philosophy and cultural perceptions step in. I always remember the saying, "we focused so much on whether or not we could, we didn't talk about whether or not we should."

    I'm trying my best not to sound like a conspiracy theorist. I'm not saying the president is a lizard man or something out of pocket like that. I'm suggesting that we tap into a deeper state of mind. I'm trying to lead myself into the future with curiosity and not fear, because we have enough of that in our world as it is. I want to fall into a rabbit hole like Alice, knowing that no matter where I go, I can find peace of mind. For you dear reader, I wish the same.