Tuesday, November 21, 2023
It seems as though we struggle with two perceptions – having the life we want and getting stuck with the life we have. One feels like willful free choice, and the other feels like the obligation of misfortune. In one state of mind, you’re free to choose, and everything you’ve ever wanted is yours; and in the other state, it’s all one, enslaving prison that results from having no freedom whatsoever.
The motivators and manifesting gurus say, “You can choose anything, you’re free so create the life you want.” “You can do anything,” they say. “All that you’ve ever wanted is yours, if only you dare to dream,” they say.
And then the other says, “Shit happens, and then you die.” “Freewill is just an illusion,” they say. “It’s all just one, big happening, and you aren’t in control,” they say. “Accept and surrender, there’s nothing you can do about it,” they say.
So am I stuck or have I chosen this life? I suppose the answer is yes and no. Perhaps the simplest answer is that the situation is just not that personal. The way you frame your life is not real anyway. You are not real. You cannot pin reality down conceptually. I’m not going to give you the answer. Why? Your life is not a question. Your life is. Reality is. How you see it, however, is fungible. If you frame it as if your life is exactly as you want it, you become blind to the parts that are clearly unwanted. To have desire implies what’s undesired. To have freewill implies no will whatsoever. If you frame it in a concept, there then becomes a front and a back. The miracle is being able to flip the picture around. That’s what’s called getting the Big Picture. Do you have it yet?