Saturday, September 30, 2006

Living by Rules I Didn't Make

Plugging out...

Why should my life fit according to norms... Why should I be happy about things I'm supposed to be happy about and value the things I'm supposed to value. Just because that's the way it happened in your life does not mean that's the way it will happen in mine... i am a different person, remember!

And yet, if every person is different, how come so many people have similar lives and go through similar experiences.. so similar that they end up becoming the norm or the rule of the way life should be lived...

But, here's a question: (and to my mind the crucial question to ask) Would their lives have been similar to each other if they weren't trying so damn hard to fit their lives into the 'norms' in the 1st place...

It's like what the Oracle tells Neo on their first meeting...

Oracle: "Don't worry about the vase"
Neo: "What vase?"... and he turns and drops the vase
Oracle: "That vase"
Oracle: (and this is the crux) "... would you have dropped it if i hadn't warned you in the 1st place"

And that's it, isn't it... would Neo have dropped the vase if the Oracle hadn't told him to mind the vase in the 1st place...

Would all people living by the norms & similar lives have been similar if they weren't trying to fit their lives to the norms... isn't a self-fulfilling prophecy...

If I live by the norms, the norms self-perpetuate and become even more the rule...

The way i see it... there's a vast difference between what's the "norm" and what's "normal"... and everyday i make a choice whether i want to live by the norm or be normal. Do I want my life to be like every other person I know or do I live the way i want to live!

More later... For now, I'm plugging back in...

Plugging out…

What I’ve always found funny is that when you’re of the age when you’re wary of the all the traps the world has to offer– like job, security, money, marriage… you’re too busy working towards exactly those traps. You have neither of the above and therefore, you see yourself distant from it. Because you can’t predict how it will be when you do have them, you feel you can control it and not let it control you (the word I’m looking for is ‘maya’)

When you’re young, you’re telling yourself that I’m going to be different, I’m going to enjoy the material pleasures, but won’t let it take over my life..... You’re telling yourself ‘I’ve seen how my dad got into the trap of everyday life and I’m not going to get conned’…. I’m obviously smarter… I’m going to play the system, not the other way round.. I’m going to enjoy pleasures of the trap without getting trapped myself!” …

But, before you realize, you’re exactly where your Dad was at the same age… you’re trapped, you’re plugged in… and boy is it comfortable in here… it’s the ‘one ring’ that tempts you with the power it offers… the ring you think you can control… but who’s controlling who…

It’s one of life’s biggest jokes… it’s quietly looking down at you and smiling… here comes another one who thinks he is control of where he’s going… ha!

Plugging back in…

Thursday, September 28, 2006

we're all in it aren't we... the matrix, i mean... constantly plugging in and plugging out, craving one or the other... in fact, i can summarise my entire life as a constant battle between plugging in and plugging out... as a matter of fact, i can summarise your life pretty much in that as well...

but, what do we really want? we don't really want to unplug do we? it's the quintessential paradox... the tempation of being plugged in vs. the excitement of plugging out... the pleasure of plugged in vs. the ambiguity of getting unplugged...

what do we really want.. out of life... is it our eternal search for the 'purpose' that agent smith has suggested human life does not have?

some of the thoughts that have been cropping up in my mind off late (more often than not)... more as they come

for now, i'm "plugging in" back to the matrix... more when i "unplug" next time...