Life, it's dead good really

(written 24/02/08)

Life

Man it rocks, I love it!

Running from the real world or living alternatively? That's the question of the moment. This week I have been accused of running from reality. From someone who will remain unnamed here, but naturally they are not giving an unbiased point of view - that person personally would prefer me to be in the UK than in New York. That aside, it really made me think, and rightly too.

So apparently I'm still running. So if I'm not living in the real world where am I living? Is New York City some kind of alternate universe? It may feel like it sometimes but I'm pretty sure I haven't plunged down a rabbit hole just yet. So why am I not in the real world? Is my life too decadent to count as real life? Does real life only kick in once I'm miserable and working every hour that god sends? Is the purpose of life to be a wage slave & to be spending every waking moment trying to earn enough money to pay a mortgage, get a bit higher on the old property ladder and to buy some identikit designer clothing to look like everyone else? Am I in denial about having opted out of the ratrace & I should go back? Is jealousy the motivation behind why people say these things, is it fear that they want to think outside the box too but are too scared or am I genuinely in denial & being utterly irresponsible currently? I have abandoned my career, sold my home & am living pretty much hand to mouth. Oh and I'm about to give away my furniture. I live & work in a hostel, I have very little private space. I am really happy.

So...that begs the age old question.... what IS the purpose of life? A lot of people seem to think the purpose of life is to become as rich as possible. Then what? In the time you're trying to get rich, you're planning when life is going to start, and how amazing it will be. How do you know when you're rich enough? Will you ever be? Then what? Or you'll do something when you've lost 'the weight'. How about you start living now? Controversial I know, but we don't live in the past, we don't live in the future, we live in this moment RIGHT NOW. If I can be happy right now, without jeopardising my future, what harm does that hold? Human beings are conditioned to delay gratification, why? If you can be happy right now not later why not just DO IT!!! Any of us could be knocked down by a bus tomorrow and none of this is a dress rehearsal. Just don't use it as an excuse not to deal with the mundane or plan either. You still need to do the washing up, but if you're genuinely happy the mundane doesn't feel so dreary anymore, everything becomes just a bit more fun you know? :)

So my first blog, for a while anyway, I wanted to be some absolute comedy gold with some hulaaaaarious anecdotes but instead it's been some rant about being happy & about how we should all allow ourselves to be. But in fact, is that not a fundamental human right? Really the only person stopping us is ourselves if you think about it.

Closed-minded people don't make me angry, they make me sad. They're so scared of what they might find out....gosh, you never know, they might have to question themselves, their ego & even, wow, change how they live their lives....well fuck. You might not want to go through any of that, changing is really difficult and fucking hideous to do but if you can be happy at the end of it - is it not worth a try? What do you actually have to lose?

I believe it's naive to think the human race is at the peak of our evolution right now, there are so many things that are unexplained, so much about ourselves we haven't worked out. Look how fucking powerful we are if we only use this small percentage our our brains, aren't you excited about what else we can do? And when you tap into the rest....wow... even science & spirituality are coming together right now & it looks like the human race is on the verge of a new exciting age of discovery.

Isn't evolving our species to a higher state of consciousness a bit more exciting than the latest ferrari? Isn't that worth a bit more than stashing your readies away to get yourself a bigger house or a new fancy car? Sure it's taken me a fucking long time to get to this point but I am genuinely really happy, with few possessions and no 'fixed' abode. Why don't we all just try & be better people & use our minds for positive advancement & not selfish gain. Just be a genuinely nice, thoughtful person for a day & see if it makes you feel better than the feeling of having a nice shiny new toy. If it doesn't, fair enough (are you sure?). But has anyone seen that cheesy pay it forward film? They've got a point...

Oh and when you're being that nice person, don't let your ego run away with you & get all high & mighty that you're so enlightened to be helping people, because once you start feeding your ego (and man they are hungry badboys) it becomes all about you again....the selfishness kicks in....and you start to want nice new things for yourself or to tell people just how GREAT you are - to make yourself feel good...

ok whacked out hippy ramble over - be nice everyone because I reckon it can make you so much happier than buying stuff - just be nice kids.

PS Somebody please remind me of all of this next time I'm doing a trolley dash in Primark going "oh look at this top 3 quid - I'll have one in every colour" ;)

Oh and none of this comes from an ivory tower - I'm a right bitch a lot of the time & if anyone gives away my shoes or my lego bracelet I'll kill 'em :) and I have seriously considered applying for a big city job again this week! I'm not going to judge anyone, or I'll try anyway, like we all should. If you're happy however you life your life, genuinely happy (and you never get that empty feeling deep inside where you think 'is this it?') then amazing!!! Tell other people how!!! If we can all be happier then isn't that what it's all about?

Peace people :)