The trap of philosophical identity

Life is complex and often confusing. We’re scared little animals with consciousnesses, stranded on a planet floating through empty space, with no means of escape. There seems to be no meaning, rhyme or reason to any of this, so we all try and  find our own meaning in the madness. We seek out the patterns, and try to fill our void of understanding with knowledge, philosophies or doctrines like religion. It goes without saying, knowledge is power, however within the hunt for knowledge there is a trap many of us fall into. I like to call this, the trap of philosophical identity.

Once we’ve accumulated an array of ideas that fit neatly together, we often like to group them together into a philosophy or belief system. Some notable examples would be stoicism, solopisism or even buddhism. This is fine for the most part, as it categorises different beliefs and gives us a reference point for various ideas. However, we fall into a trap when we identify ourselves with these philosophies.

People start calling themselves Buddhists, Christians and atheist, amongst other things, to give their beliefs and ideas a sense of identity. An identity, that by it’s very nature is an illusion created by the ego. A false perception of a so called ‘self’ that does not exist. We are nothing more than a collection of cells and brain chemical changes, how can a conditioned object possibly give itself an identity. If you want to gain true knowledge, and form your own truth, then identifying yourself with your beliefs is the biggest hindrance in all your intellectual pursuits.

When you identify yourself with your beliefs, then you narrow you thinking to that one specific belief. Anything that goes against this is dismissed, and you gain a sort of confirmation bias against anything that goes against your said belief. Atheists are terrible for this. They are against religion, yet by identifying themselves as an atheist, they have just traded one belief system for another, atheism. There’s no problem believing or disbelieving in a god, but saying your belief is fact and everyone else is stupid, is ludicrous. Identifying yourself with a certain belief system just hinders you from greater understanding, as you will never look at different perspectives and form your OWN opinion. Rather, just the opinions of a philosophy devised by others.

I suggest rather than following any sort of philosophy, we remain neutral and sceptical of all possibilities. Remain open to new opinions rather than staying stuck in you own stubborn beliefs. You will never learn anything if you form your ideology and leave it at that. New knowledge should be open to interpretation, and not just thrown away because it goes against your beliefs, you may be throwing away something valuable.

So, don’t just read the bible and call it day. Don’t read, a science encyclopaedia and leave it at that. Research every angle of every argument and remain open to change. Place ideas and opinions in different contexts, and accept that you are not your beliefs, rather an ever-changing state of being.

–THE LONELY WEST–

The holy cycle

The universe is strange place, and as science progresses, our understanding of how it works changes year by year. It seems like whenever we have a solid foundation of scientific knowledge about ur world, another theory or finding destroys what we thought we knew. For example, when I was in school, my psychics teacher would tell us that a ‘quark‘ was the smallest fundamental particle in the universe. However, for anyone with an interest in science and the confusing world of quantum physics, you’ll know that this this could very well not be the case. Thanks a lot string theory!

It’s a current belief that as we go smaller and smaller into the particles that make up this reality, we find that on a subatomic level, every piece of matter is made up of vibrational waves of energy. As physics clearly tells us, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. So if everything in the universe is made up of energy, then what does this tell us about the nature of our existence?

Well, if energy can’t be created or destroyed, then that means nothing in our observable universe can be created or destroyed, even ourselves. But how can that be possible? Nothing is eternal, humans die and physical objects eventually decay. When we die, we are gone, we longer exist, however the basic laws of physics go against this. With this in mind, I hypothesise that everything that exists within our universe, has always been here, and nothing new is ever added to it. Neither, is anything removed from it.

Think about it, all life is energy. When we die, our bodies decay and rot, we are eaten by other animals to keep them alive and reproducing. When them animals die, their bodies decay and the cycle goes on. Nothing ever ceases to exist, it is simply impossible. Rather, like physics tells us, everything that matter makes up, is just transferred into another form. Birth, growth and decay, it’s the cycle of life. This is the bigger picture we are all a part of, everything is one and connected, just in different, transferring and interchangeable forms.

This bigger picture, or cycle, is what I like to think most, if not all religions were getting at when they spoke of a ‘God.’ This ultimate truth of everything being one part of a larger picture, is God. The very essence of everything in our existence, not some almighty creator. I believe that many of the holy scriptures, such as bible, were using metaphors to describe this truth of oneness. However, humans misconstrued this stories and took them too literally, envisioning a creator or all seeing deity.

In an early Christian scripture, it was said that ‘Jesus’ quoted this, as an explanation of where God is…

“I am the light which is over all things”

“I am all”

“From me came forth, and to me all attained”

“Split a piece of wood, I am there”

“Lift up the stone, and I am there”

If one was to take this quote literally, you would bring forth the assumption that our creator ‘God,’ is everywhere at once. However, I feel that the word God itself has grown shallow and meaningless throughout time. As stated, if you dismiss all preconceptions of the word God, and take it as this cycle, or bigger picture I’m speaking of, the quote resonates with this theory. It tells us of an overall essence of all life and things, that is everything and everywhere at once. Not a concious being, rather a unity of everything.

It’s worth saying now, that thinking for yourself is one of the most valuable skills you can have. You can take what you’ve read here however you want, but please don;t form your opinions based on a single book, belief system or blog post. Look at every side of the coin from every perspective, and form your own truth. Because most of the time, you’ll find a deeper truth, hidden within what you once thought was the ultimate truth.

–THE LONELY WEST–

Altered states

I recently quit drugs. As someone who’s experimented from a very young age, memories of the outside world were somewhat foggy. From age thirteen my life became a hazy and obsessive infatuation with unnaturally altering my neuro-chemistry, in strange and interesting new ways. Like many ‘recovering’ drug users, I struggled integrating back into the normal flow of life, so I began trying to engage in ‘normal’ activities that ‘normal’ people do. At first it was painfully boring, but as the mental fog rose above the damage blatant stimulant abuse had caused, I began seeing clearer. Amidst the fuzzy brain-numbing morning television shows and awkward sober meals, I saw the even awkwarder truth. Sober life is no different.

“Needs more LSD”

There’s a lot of self-righteous people out there that like to pride themselves as being ‘t-total.’ The completely sober and high on life types, who shift away and give you stern looks as you light up a cigarette. ‘Oh, I don’t need alcohol to make my boring personality more interesting.’ In other words, judgemental assholes. However the problem is, on a basic level absolutely nobody is sober.

People seem to forget that every activity we engage in alters our neurochemistry in some way. Other methods ‘healthier’ than some, but all in all the human experience seems to be a constant pursuit for feel good chemicals. That’s all life is. Altering our current state of conciousness.

Junk food, the internet, television, gambling, sex the list goes on of ways you can alter your brain chemistry, and make yourself feel good. Why do we dismiss chemicals, and see them as bad? Well we see alcohol as okay, but lets not get into the madness and Hypocrisy of drug prohibition.

All I’m saying is, everything we pursue in life is a way of altering our baseline state. Everything IS an altered state, and will eventually end, drugs just give us some time to move around in that state. If used in the right setting with good intentions, many substances can facilitate personal growth as we can take away quality’s we like from this altered state, and try to apply them to our baseline state. However, like everything, it is a double edged sword and spending too much time in an altered state can bring on crippling addictions and make normal life less fulfilling. An occasional escape from reality or a change in perception however, is what everyone needs. Without this we remain stuck in the same ideals and forget how to think outside of the box.

So next time your ‘off your nut’ in front of a stack of speakers, jaw swinging and sweat pouring down your face, maybe take a step back for a moment. Realise that it is not the drug doing this to you, it is your mind and you can think like this any time you want. Think ‘what can I learn from this experience’ rather than ‘Shit I’m going to comedown soon’ and you’ll bring a little bit more love an prosperity with you everywhere you go, even when your too old to handle a strong coffee, let alone anything else.

–THE LONELY WEST–

Life and the search for purpose

As humans we like to think of ourselves as different from other species. After all, we can build cities, make beautiful art and then wage a war that can plummet a century’s worth of our own creation into a pile of dust. The truth is though, we as a singular person, are nothing more than an animal. A fleshy vessel controlled by a brain and made up of microscopic cells that conveniently and fit within this universe by complete chance. The only thing that sets us apart from other beings is a curse that’s plagued our race for generations. Self-awareness.

I call this a curse, because it is. The clock is constantly ticking and so is our morality. Life has no real purpose and eventually we will cease to exist. Nobody likes to mention or acknowledge this, but it’s right in our faces, and we get so caught up in our meaningless lives that we ignore it. Due to this,we’ve spent centuries coming up with methods to distract ourselves from the uneasy truths our own existence. From televisions to smart-phones we are always running away from ourselves. Being alone brings boredom, so we find other meaningless beings to spend time with. We can collectively lie to ourselves that what we are doing matters, within this constant cosmic joke we call life.

Really it doesn’t matter. When we are thrown into this world, we know nothing. All we know is that we are this thing called a human, in a three-dimensional plane surrounded by other things. When were young we’re forced into educational institutions, so we can work towards getting a job. We assume that when we turn into an adults everything will make sense, and spend our whole lives searching for purpose within the boundaries of societal institutions. We go on to become doctors, lawyers or what ever else, in the desperate hope that these external things will give our life meaning.

But when we get to the end we find nothing. Nobody has a clue what’s going on, and no amount of money or power in the world is going to change that. Life. is. Pointless. Many find this out sooner and go on to become drug addicts, suicide statistics and unemployed watchers of game-shows. It’s the truth, and it’s hard to swallow.

So, if life is completely pointless why don’t we just give up and kill ourselves now? After all, everything we achieve means nothing because we will eventually die. Well there lies the problem. If life ends then it cannot be without meaning. If life was to never end, then we could be everything and anything we wanted to because we have all the time in the world. Immortality in truth, would be a truly pointless existence.

The fact that life has a beginning and an end, already gives it’s meaning. You only have a certain amount of time to make choices and be who you want to be in this world so you have to make it count in the short time you have. Why spend your life in a 9-5 job you hate, when you could be out there experiencing every feeling and emotion this life has to offer?

At the end of the day life is about experiences, and you won’t find experiences within the cold walls of an office cubical. Neither will it be found constantly dwelling on the ideal that life is pointless. So what if it’s pointless? You can’t change what is. As you read this, your biological clock is ticking. Yes, you WILL die at some point, so why not make the journey there as thrilling as possible. We’ll never now what happens at the end, neither will we know what happens next. It could all end tomorrow, but if when we get to the end and it’s nothing more than an endless void, then you’ll surely regret doing nothing while your within a reality that you have concious control over.

–THE LONELY WEST–

Cruel enlightenment

I was 15 and it was the usual Friday night. A group of middle-class white kids hanging around the local park basking in the essence of the foggy night. Nobody had any worries or dreams, it was all about what was happening right now. We didn’t care about current affairs, school or even our future. The main agenda was just to blow our parents money on as many mind-altering substances as we possibly could. Simple days but fun times if I’m honest. Tonight was nothing special, it was actually pretty standard and ‘usual’ for us. Nothing out of the ordinary, just excessive cannabis consumption and the usual bland teenage stoner talk.

The night dragged on and the conversations grew tiresome. Every sentence muttered brought on anticipation, then plummeted into disappointment when you realized the other person was too stoned to realise what they were even talking about. I had the usual high. Body relaxed, heightened awareness and general slowness. However, after smoking our last joint something changed. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something was odd. It was like someone had came and changed the very essence of the atmosphere. It was then I realised my perception had twisted dramatically. I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move, I just watched everybody. I watched and I began seeing the most fascinating but disturbing truths. They all talked and talked but I didn’t. I just observed.

I saw everyone for who they were. It was as if everyone was wearing this metaphorical mask, to hide their true selves. There insecurities, their doubts and their flaws. Even the drug dealer that was with us, the ‘gangster.’ I even saw his mask. Everyone had a façade of confidence or ‘front’ to hide what they truly are. I watched and saw every single lie these people told to prevent the barrier from being broken. I realise now, this is the ego, but back then this shit freaked me out. It felt as if I was seeing the world for how it truly is and I’ve not been the same since. This simple shift in perception has completely shaken and changed me from the core.

When I walk through the street everyone just looks like a robot. I feel like I’m the only person that knows what’s going on. Greed, control, jjudgementand corruption it just doesn’t make sense to me. People worship shallow celebrities who are idolised in the media. The only reason they are their is to make you work harder and contribute to the corporate mechanism, in the flimsy hope that one day you might end up like them.

People are fake and manipulative. They don’t listen. They wait for their turn to speak and do everything for their own mental gain. People are stupid and don’t have the faintest clue what’s going on. When you try to tell them their living a lie they resist. They tell you your being silly. Your crazy man, them drugs are fucking you up. Quite the contrary. There making me realise how fucked up the world is.

I can see through the bullshit now and it’s driving me insane. Contemplating reality and frequent psychedelic use has shown me the raw and unadulterated version of reality, and at times I wish I could go back. I’ve opened a door that can’t be shut and now living life is like watching a movie were you can see the set and all the cameras. I look at an advertisement and I don’t see a new potential product. All I see is consume, obey and conform. Live the lie and become the lie or you can’t survive.

The open door within my mind messed me up for a good few years until I started to learn to accept it. People who haven’t had this “awakening” or whatever you want to call it won’t understand. For people who have, they will know exactly what I mean. I’ve been to the darkest reaches of the human mind and it’s left me with new eyes to see the world with. These new eyes can consume you if you dwell on them. You think of how you can ever live in this world again, after seeing the true nature of it. Well… It’s hard but there’s nothing you can do about it, other than use it for your advantage. Keep the perception, but don’t live it’s seclude none societal lifestyle. Use these new eyes to see through societies lies and rise to the top, otherwise you’ll just end up another acid-burnout sat at home watching documentaries about the Illuminati.

Maybe all this means something to somebody… Or maybe years of drug use have fried my brain. Either way, I’ve grown accustomed to my version of reality, and to be perfectly honest with you… I like it.

–THE LONELY WEST–

The purpose of misery

I hate being happy. I find it near enough impossible, to write anything particularly soulful or thought-provoking. I can sit in front of a computer screen for hours, and be left with nothing more than a half-hearted twitter post. Even picking up the guitar just leads to a few generic open chords and the odd murmur of vocals.

When you create something, you put a little bit of yourself into your art. Ourselves, or as many like to call, the ego, is created from a multitude of experiences throughout our life. Good or bad, it’s all there and sadness seems to bring out the best, most powerful and emotional pieces of work out there.

I mean, were would Hemingway or Bukowski be without their crippling alcohol problems or misanthropic tendencies? How about Ian Curtis or Kurt Cobain without debilitating depressive disorders? The sad thing is, many of the greats end up offing themselves, leaving nothing more than a legacy and eventually, a footnote in a tattered old history book.

Pain and misery brings out the most raw and real representation of the human experience. Something we can all relate to and emphasise with. After all, sadness, loneliness, anxiety and depression are some of the most powerful and overpowering feelings one can experience.

Everything we do is to avoid negative emotions. But the truth is, we need misery.

Sadness and despair gives contrast to the good things in life. If you were happy all of the time, then you would ultimately end up being unhappy. This is because humans always want more, it is in our nature. If everything was euphoric and amazing 24/7, then your original version of happiness would become less satisfying then your ever increasing standard of fulfilment. Your standards would rise. Misery makes us appreciate happiness for what it is, so we don’t become desensitised to good feelings.

The issue is, it feels like a lot of the time artists are stuck between the choice of happiness and doing what they love. Which is to create. It seems that misery always comes around eventually to pay you back for all that undeserved happiness you’ve been getting lately. Still though if you want creation gives you energy, it’s hard when you don’t have the powerful emotions of despair by your side to help you create. Then again, you enjoy being happy. What is there to do?

I still haven’t quite cracked this yet but lately if I’m too happy and content, I try to sprinkle a bit of misery onto my day, just to invoke them powerful emotions. It’s not too hard.

Make your self a really disgusting coffee in the morning. Don’t even think about putting sugar in that thing. Miss the bus to work and walk in the pouring rain instead. Get hit by a car on the way back from work… Okay, maybe not that far, but once you find that nice balance of happiness and misery you’ll have all the tools to finish that novel/screenplay/short-film you’ve been working on. How is that novel going anyway? Oh what’s that. You haven’t started it yet? Never mind.

–THE LONELY PROCRASTINATING WEST–

What is god? Consciousness and the observer effect

I’m an atheist. As an atheist there is nothing worse than a Christian who relentlessly tries to force their beliefs upon you. As someone who prides himself in (hopefully) not being an asshole, there’s nothing worse than an atheist doing the same thing.

It’s easy to discredit someone beliefs just because they seem ludicrous to you. But, you’ll never learn anything if you stay stuck in the mental prison of your own stubborn ideology. Truth be told, I used to be one of those atheist who preached about the narrow-mindedness of religious types which ironically makes you more narrow minded. This is because, like I said, you get trapped in your own beliefs and don’t accept any other opinions. Well, I’ve been given this some thought and although I remain an atheist you really can’t blame people for believing in a higher power.

I mean the universe makes no sense but complete sense at the same time. Back in the day, we didn’t have science. A higher being or deity seemed the only logical explanation for the reality in which we perceive. Of cause, as we evolved we began finding patterns. That’s all science is. The study of regularly occurring patterns. Humans like patterns because they help us make sense of seemingly chaotic events beyond our control. We like control. It eats away at us when we can’t categorise, analyse and neatly label things in the world. This is what science is for. Science found that our universe is governed by certain laws. These laws neatly fit into various equations and calculations which when worked out again and again always give the same result. Gravity, velocity or density it can all be calculated. It’s almost like a computer program with physics equations as it’s code.

With all this seamlessly perfect data we can extract from our universe, it becomes apparent that it is very possible there could well be a creator. Our world is intelligently designed as if someone meant it all to fit together and consistently work again and again. It’s insane when you think that, every small calculation of these laws is so neatly perfect that out universe just works. I mean, take one piece of the code away and it all just falls apart. So, if there is a creator or what us humans refer to as “God” what is it. What is god?

Well, when people think of god I personally think that they are going about the completely wrong way. When you envision God you will normally picture some almighty deity in the sky that must be worshipped. In my opinion, this approach is lazy and disregards science. A way of simply filling in the gaps we don’t understand. The idea that we have to worship this creator also seems silly. A fallacy I personally think has been carried through the ages. A way of invoking fear in large populations so they don’t “Sin.” So what is the other way of looking at God? Well first lets take away the label of God as that already puts an image of a deity in peoples mind. The belief that we have a creator dictates that something is consciously aware of the universe in which it creates. The idea that our reality was created by conscious thought rather than pure randomness.

The Double Slit Experiment

This is where it gets mind-bendingly difficult to fully comprehend, so I will try and break it down into it’s simplest and most relevant form. In a nutshell, the double slit experiment was a study conducted in which scientist fired electrons through two tiny slits. Quantum physics dictates that the particle should act as… Well, a particle and when they collide with the wall, land as two bands in correspondence with the slits. The issue was, this did not happen. As you can see above the particles did not create two bands, rather they acted as a wave would. Completely unlike how we know particles to work, which obviously completely BAFFLED scientists. To get a better idea of what was happening they decided to use a small device to examine exactly which slits the electrons went through. Keep in mind this is on a quantum level, so up until this point nobody was observing the electrons. Rather, they were just seeing the end result. When they actually observed these particles. Well… this is when things got really strange. When scientists observed the particles, they began acting like particles again and produced two bands based of their collision with the wall. They tried again and again, observing and not observing, each time producing the same results. What does this mean? Well, it basically means the particles may be aware that they were being watched. As if they acted as we expect them too when we actually observed them. This is crazy when you think that our whole universe is made up of matter. Various particles that make up EVERYTHING we perceive, those of which their number we couldn’t even fathom. So if the variables of particles change based on our observations… Could this mean we are architects of our own reality?

When the electrons were unaware of observation they acted as a wave. Does this not dictate that the model of a wave could be their true form? If you begin reading about string theory, you will start to realise it is becoming apparent that the fundamental form of matter in our universe is countless amounts of vibrational waves.

It’s getting pretty deep now but hear me out.

Every thought you create produces a wave. That’s why they are called brain waves. Observation is formed by thought. You perceive something and your mind acknowledges it’s existence. If this is the case, than could it not be possible that we are creating our own reality whilst we live it. Our collective perception is dictating how the universe plays out and how the laws are set. Darting back to the initial question, what is God ?

Well… Maybe WE are God.

I’ll let you all collect your blown minds and you can be on your way.

–THE LONELY WEST–

Missed the starting gun

“You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun”

---

The quote above is from the Pink Floyd song “Time.” I can hear all you “cultured” writers/bloggers/hipsters scoffing already because I didn’t choose a Nietzsche or Mark Twain quote. I have a blog post here. So the quicker we get through this… The quicker you can get back to playing vinyl’s and shopping for clothes with triangles and random words like “OBEY” printed on them. Or for that matter… whatever it is you kids do for kicks these days .

The first time I heard this song, it really struck a chord with me. It’s one of them pieces of music were the lyrical content just jumps straight out at you. Gilmour’s soothing but powerful vocals, combined with such eloquently thought out lyrics, really help you understand what the artist is trying to convey on a much deeper level. I found the particular lines above the most relatable and moving. I think this is because, well… I personally, have missed the starting gun.

When you are young its seems like life is long and you have all the time in the world. There is time to kill today so you put your dreams on hold. You put your dreams on hold and end up in this sort of purgatory. Just on the borderlines waiting to get older so you can go and show the world what you’ve got. Throughout childhood and being a teenager, for me at least. It always felt as if we were building up to something. almost like we were in training to become human. The moment we reach adulthood is when the race starts; we put our skills to the test. Life suddenly changes. We change and become part of a grander scheme.

The truth is, the race has already started. There’s nothing that dictates were your life begins. The world just happens, and it’s happening right now. It’s so easy to sit there and not do the things you want to do, until certain circumstances change. i.e. Oh, I’ll do that after I get my degree. Do it now. The universe doesn’t wait around for you. 

The fact is. Time passes by at an alarmingly fast rate. If your waiting until you finish university to write that book or waiting to move out until you go on that awesome trip. You’ve missed the starting gun. Do what you can right now, with the resources you have. Otherwise. You may look back one day and find that ten years have got behind you.

No. no one told you when run, but I’m telling now that the race has already started and if you leave it any longer, it may be too late to catch up. And yes, I know you’ve missed the starting gun. If you hadn’t you’d be doing something cooler than reading this blog. Go. Go now…        

–THE LONELY WEST–

Well I guess this is growing up

I can remember the exact point the sobering fact that I had grown up hit me. Post night out blues, wandering through a forest with my friend, both of our brains fried. An odd situation indeed, but the soothing sounds and smells of nature outweighed our aching bodies and sleep deprived minds. We sat by a river; empty beer cans and sealable bags littered on the floor. Obviously, someone… at some point had had a good night. Regardless of the awkward silence and emotional emptiness from last nights events, it felt somewhat tranquil. Zen. Everything just felt… well. right. Hypnotized by the rippling waves, something hit me. It hit me fast because by the time the battered synapses in my brain activated the thought, it was already coming out of my mouth.

“I think I’ve grown up.”

My friend glanced at me curiously.

“Why?”

“Because everything’s starting to seem a lot more shit.”

“Out of all the hangover cures I’ve tried, being in nature has always been the best”

Nothing’s new any more. Everything is just the same but in a different context. You turn on the television and it’s the same mind numbing garbage. Fake superficial bullshit designed to make you feel more miserable about your own life. The aim ultimately being that you buy even more stuff you don’t need. These material items keep you happy temporarily, but eventually they break. Eventually the novelty wears of or they stop fulfilling you. Then it’s back to work. Sitting in an institution working your ass of to make someone else money. Don’t worry though. If you work long enough you might get the privilege of having some free time.

Weekend comes and you drown yourself in alcohol. Drinking yourself to stupidity and stumbling about, talking to all the other automatons, trying to forget the prison you’re living in. Hangover comes. Coffee, cigarettes back to work. Rinse repeat.

Same people. Same situations. Same experiences.

Same shit different year.

Live in a box. Die in a box

When you’re young every experience is new, exciting and exhilarating. The world seems bright and pristine. No responsibilities. No worries. Everything makes sense and seamlessly fits together like a game of Tetris. We are brought up with the idea that we’re different. That we won’t make the same mistakes as our parents. Our generation will clean up the malevolent shit storm that the previous one left for us. Nothing changes though, we just loop back, get old and leave it to our children’s children to deal with. We are surrounded by violence and atrocities happening all around the world. That doesn’t matter, we are young. Leave for the next generation. With this, the self perpetuating cycle of death, misery and corruption continues spinning. The more we feed the cycle the more violent it gets, and before long it will consume us until there is nothing left.

When was the point you realised that you had grown up? Leave a comment below… Well if you actually got this far without killing yourself. Bit of a morbidly depressing one today. But I thought I’d start your week with a bit of misery.

–THE LONELY WEST–

What is going on… Seriously

What is the meaning of life? An often cliche’ question that has boggled the minds of philosophers and scientists alike. Many people across the ages have yearned to know the answer this. Well, to be fair you can’t blame them. All this talk about politics, the weather and all the other pointless shit, nobodies looking at the big picture. Look at it this way. We’re on this gigantic rock of dirt. Hurdling through space. Next to a gigantic ball of fire. If you just think about that for a moment, it really begs the question… WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!”

Right now you are a fleshy blood vessel made up of microscopic cells and even smaller particles. Among your other millions of fleshy vessels you are held down by a force called gravity. A force that cannot been seen smelled or even touched. Every single variable and possibility ever so suspiciously perfect and seemingly thought out.

Within this vessel we call our bodies we have a brain. An organ that uses chemicals and electrical signals to help us perceive reality. As you sit here reading this article your brain is interpreting these series of pixels which make up the English language. Set out on a black box with a screen made up of small LED lights and circuitry. Your black box networked to millions of others, seamlessly connecting through a series of 1’s and 0’s flying across a virtual world within our own.

Maybe, after you read this you’ll decide to call a friend and go round theirs (tell them about how good my blog is.) You will pick up a box and the vibrations of your vocal chords will be received into this box. This information will oscillate in a wave  to your friend miles away into his little box. If this isn’t strange enough, next you’ll get into a box with wheels attached to it. With this you will fly across time and space and reach your friend who lives in an even bigger box made of bricks

Don’t tell me you know what is going on because in the grand scheme of things… reality is bat shit insane. We have just grown accustomed to it and well… we just accept it for what it is. I mean, if somebody looked at our universe from a completely unbiased standpoint it would blow their mind. Imagine being outside of our reality and just observing the way we live. Millions of tiny mammals running around. Completing medial tasks for other people in order to get pieces of paper  that can be used to acquire items and services. Life is just the most insane drug trip conceivable.

“Whoa Trippy man”

How can we expect to find meaning in all of this when we don’t even have the faintest clue of whats going on. We don’t even know if this world is real or how the universe even keeps itself together so neatly and perfectly. In my opinion, there is no meaning to life. Meaning itself is a concept created by humans. A way of trying to understanding this crazy nonsensical existence. You can attach whatever human concepts you like to reality to make you feel better and less alone. But… At the end of the day, meaning is a man made concept. I’m sure the real truth is something impossible for us to even comprehend.

Overall, I find it truly fascinating how the universe is so precisely and put together. It really is beautiful. The way we can put together mathematical equations and everything just seems to add up. However… It doesn’t always add up. Everything is not what it seems and I think our reality is much more complex than we could ever conceive. No amount of science or technology is going to explain everything, So just enjoy what you are presented with. There’s nothing else you can do. Take a step back  from the drudgery of the rat race. Just for a moment. Breath in the oxygen, and appreciate the true beauty of the chaotic and random world we find ourselves living in. Because when you look at it the right way. Even chaos can be beautiful.

“Just to remind you how insignificant you really are.”

–THE LONELY CROWDED WEST–