| Although there are countless ways at viewing our universe, and human motivation, I have found one perspective very useful in my journey. Forgive me for saying so, but I heard it from a tv show. Homeostasis versus transastatis, the desire for constancy versus the desire for change. While I know that many people look at things differently depending on their personal history, interests, hobbies, and passions, I have always found this perspective helpful in my own life. There is a strong fear of change within me. I like routines; I enjoy predictability; I like a clean house; I like familiar and never changing friends; above all, I want a never-ending quest I can focus my life onto. With that said, I also loathe everything I listed above. Some days, I want to escape my shell and rampage the world in a torrent of suppressed rage, lust, and vengeance. In actuality, my life does not remain constant, nor is it without constants. Humanity is founded in compromise. While I sometimes fall into a frenzy of warring emotional states, I envy the extremes. I envy the hedonist, the nihilist, the fundamentalist Christian, the patriot, the anarchist, and, this above all, heroes. I envy people who stand up for what they believe in, yet, there is something wrong with this zealotry. As important as beliefs are to the man, it is how we mold reality to our values that separates the mindless zealot from the idealistic compromiser. There is a time for zealotry, and there is also a time for compromise. The question, to be put forward quite simply, is how do we compromise without compromising our integrity? How do we stay true to our beliefs while accomplishing those same goals? In politics, everyone has a personal agenda. People think both in terms of what they want idealistically and what they want pragmatically. One must come to terms that they cannot convince every person that their views are correct, nor that their ideals are truer than another's. A contemporary view of politics is that we must bring about our highest values while sacrificing our lower ones to stay in office. Vote Pro-Gun to bring about serious foreign policy reform, for example. I suppose the question would be, "how much compromising can one do until they are wholly disloyal to their own beliefs? How does one measure integrity, in the number of times one lies their true conscience or in the lasting effect of their false convictions?" Great men are idealists. But many great men die without anyone's notice because they were unable to accomplish their idealistic endeavors. A great man placed in a moment of opportunity is hailed as an "uncompromising, unflinching, steadfast hero," or something to the effect. Our democracy, unfortunately, is built on the very fabric of compromise. And our heroes do a lot of compromising, at least until they are in the highest office of the land. Then, when we have reached the top of the ladder, we suddenly become idealists. Or do we? Many men have acted differently in the office of President, some maintain true to their beliefs, while others change their minds once the gravity of the office settles upon their laps. This entire essay is remarkably like Nietzsche, as the Ubermensch is the one who compromises his own moral integrity without guilt or hesitation. In America, we have many Super Men, except they are not prized as such. We only praise the men of compromise when they compromise nothing at all. The men who strove to keep off the Civil War gave their enemy plenty of advantages, but they always stayed true to their hopes for a united republic. We do not like those who compromise to stay in power, although we vote them back into office just the same. It is not fair to judge other people. You cannot say that Grant was a hero without mentioning Lee. Everyone fights for something, just as everyone lives for something. To say that we change in life is an understatement, as few spend their entire lives for the same ideals. It has been said that there are only two types of people in the world. Those who change the world to suit themselves, and those who change themselves to suit the world. All change is accomplished by the former, as the latter's lives are written in water. Nothing that the next generation will not wash away with their own sweat and blood, nothing that time itself cannot destroy. But, take a second look. What change is accomplished by those unflinching, uncompromising heroes? Nothing that will not also be drowned in the sweat and blood of all those that follow. It truly will not make a difference to the world if you bomb a city or build a library, as there is nothing that can be built that cannot also be destroyed. So what matters? The opinions of your peers, remaining true to your own beliefs, or the result of your actions? In truth, both nothing and everything are important. Nothing will make a difference to this world, but everything will make a difference to you. With that said, our short stay here on earth should be lived not by how the world deems it, but by what we choose to do with it. Some are content to live a life of pleasure, others prefer to live an honest life of integrity, it makes no difference to anyone. Certainly not me. Drain your friends for every ounce of "emotional support", sleep around with as many men and women as you like, or make money your true love. Or read scripture your entire life and hope to find some meaning in them. Learn how to throw knives, how to aim a firearm, how to derive pleasure from spirits or companions, or drive yourself into a guilty withdrawal from society. Make yourself uncomfortable, by all means do! If you seek to live a life, do whatever you are called to do. Oh, and when you find a person who disagrees, they just might kill you. Life is funny that way. Right and wrong are up to the individual. Feel free to change your mind when a new idea takes your fancy, as I guarantee you no one will truly care except yourself. I do not believe that people will be saints or demons, that we naturally navigate to an extreme before we die, but I do think that actions speak volumes for the individual. They simply are not enough to judge. Think, "live." Do not think, "don't live." Live your own life, whether you are different or the same as everyone else, the difference will always be with you. Do not think "I am a rock" because you are not a rock, and you will change. Do not think "I am water" because you will stay the same. Think, "I am a river." While you change, you will always remain the same. When you need to change, you will. When you do not, you will not. You are the never waking sleep, the impossible paradox of humanity, and you are alive. That means everything, and never forget how much it does. Then live some more, and feel the beauty of impossibility as you utter the laughing cry of a saner mad man than the world has ever known. When that happens, my friend, we shall be laughing and crying as we face the sun rise together. The Dark Dachshund |
| Changes and Paradoxes |