Feb. 23
We have the elementary notion conditioned onto us that all events can assessed on the same base continuum of good and bad. That in the evaluation of decisions, there are those that are objectively lesser and those that are objectively greater.
Like beauty standards of men and women. Like societal hierarchy of acceptable jobs.
That being hired is an indisputable good and being fired is an equally indisputable bad.
All while ignoring critical situational contexts that are incomprehensible to computational power of man. Not that matters anyways, we will rationalize it away post-hoc after all.
Yes, continuums are present throughout life, but serve as thought structures providing visibility into your personal credo. One -> Freedom vs. Submission - the continuum of Control.
Where do you lie? In what aspects of life do you index on more in one versus the other? For you, as an individual, in what aspects of your life do you need one or another?
Most people require a balance, provided consciously on not. The media portrayal of the quiet freak and the submissive CEO (see: Wolf of Wall Street) rings just as true in popular media as in life. Work & sex are just two of the many vectors that affect this continuum.
A consciousness around your major continuums helps you bring balance to your life. Ill-conducive to the expression of art, where the torrence of emotions sparks the greatest energy.
If we see art as an expression of the mind / soul, then the body is the medium. It is the channel, the pipes in which flows out from the self and into the world. The channel is imperfect, so much is lost. As such, even the greatest artist, with utmost mastery over their medium, will need to feel 100 to output 10. To feel 1000 to output 100. Hence the necessity of emotional turbulence - Leonardo was a tortured soul.
Why the heavy references to popular media? Media fundamentally taps into the underlying culture of the age - the zeitgeist. A vetting system made up of consumers. Those that access something native to the human condition, or the present social condition, win. All else, fails. A viable heuristic for keeping a pulse on the world - however, a non-comprehensive one as my lawyer will tell me to say.
Why am I writing again - rambling ? The first breeze of spring has hit Los Angeles this year and with it, my life is seemingly brought back to a balance once again. There is time - time to think and assimilate - synthesize, and eventually, create.
Remember, acts of creation always beat acts of consumption. Just don't get bogged down by ignorance.
A smattering of thoughts for the afternoon. Thanks for reading. Miss y'all.
-Albert