There are probably as many ways to achieve success and happiness in life as there are philosophies, ideologies, values, and belief systems. This is the beauty and complexity of the human experience: you can be who and what you want to be, or at least try and then choose something completely different. Even in the darkest places and during the most chaotic times, we are adaptable and capable of transcendence.
Author: Trance
Artist. Writer. Truth seeker.
It starts from the top. That is something we all know. We don’t know who is truly at the top; it certainly isn’t a president, prime minister, or pope. Oligarchs? Clever (but evil) aliens? Stonecutters? Regardless, our modern world is based on power hierarchies, particularly in government, industry, commerce, education, science, and religion, all of which are heavily influenced by the capitalist market system. The system is clearly flawed, which is not surprising to most of us.
There have been times in my life when days were extremely long and I was completely exhausted from work. That was something I enjoyed for a while. But my life inevitably returns to this default structure, covering the essentials, and I believe that right now that is enough.
Since the advent of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, pharmaceuticals, and grandiose illusions of purpose, meaning, and happiness, those who do not fit neatly into “normal” behavior have faced stigma and violent prejudice. We have also dehumanized large segments of society in favor of political, ideological, economic, or dogmatic ignorance and stupidity.
There’s an element of our psychology that runs through everything we do — an integral, organic essence that zigzags like a dramatic line chart, dotted with significant events over the course of a lifetime. The y-axis naturally represents emotional impact.