Comfort and Resolve

I am willingly sacrificing career opportunities for life experiences. Other people are hard at work, building castles and urging me to do the same. However, these people are the very ones that are living with stress and telling me "they can't." The people I am meeting on my travels are happy, carefree, and know that "they can." There is a type of freedom gained out here by doing what you want instead of doing what "you should" or feel obligated to do. Is it selfish? Some might say so but I fully expect and encourage others to do what is best for them, even if it comes at a cost to me. Perhaps the truly selfish thing is to hold each other to our social and cultural obligations. Let each person choose their path and withhold your judgment from their decisions.

I met an English guy named Joe and we had a really interesting conversation about perspectives on WWII and what we learned in history class. I wanted to know if there was an emphasis on the fact that the US stayed out of the war for so long while Britain got hammered by rockets and bombs. He said there was definitely a mention of it but that generally, the English historical perspective of American involvement was positive. He said that in no way was it taught that the US saved Britain from German conquest and that there was actually more of a focus on Russia being the deciding factor on the European front. It's nice to have a conversation with someone who views their own country with the same open-mindedness as they view others. Our conversation did not include anything of a spiritual nature but Joe mentioned to me that he felt like we're accelerating towards a period of global change the likes of which has never been seen. He observed that the people of the world are starting to catch on to the systems of control that affect their lives and take away their freedoms. He thinks that we are headed in that direction but that we're not quite there. Soon my brother.

It's October 2008. I have been waiting, with some anxiety and curiosity, for this month for more than three years. In 2005, I had a very vivid dream in which some type of disaster took place that left hundreds of people disfigured. They had blisters all over their skin and looked like people with radiation poisoning. They were walking slowly and wandering aimlessly, as if in shock, through an urban environment. It was all over the news and all over the papers. I grabbed a newspaper and looked at the date and saw October 2008. I don't remember the day. I'm not saying that I had a prophetical dream and I'm not making any type of prediction. The dream was unlike others that I have had in that it seemed very real and the visual field was sharply defined. I haven't forgotten about it all this time and now, that month is here so it's definitely on my mind. Hopefully it doesn't come true, but I thought it was worth a mention.

I have been having a little trouble finding a ride to Western Australia. I realized that I haven't been focusing on trusting that I will get there and may have even had some doubts about it. Whether you believe it or not, I am of the belief that the thoughts you have about something lead to the consequences that you will experience. This is called the law of attraction. Google it. Upon realizing this, I decided to think positively about getting a ride to Perth with a like-minded, solid travel partner. After all, it takes 60 some hours to drive there and good company is important. I checked my email later that day and I had a response to my gumtree (craigslist) ad from an Aussie guy with 4W drive, camping gear, and a desire to stop and see things along the way. Coincidence?

Big things are happening on this planet. Instead of taking the active approach that I was expecting, I have been driven towards study and solitude. My hostel is not conducive to this and I know a move is in order. At this point in time, I am more focused on reading and writing than perhaps any other point in my life. Why? I have no idea. I'm preparing for something but I don't know what it is. Don't fret. I'm patient and I trust that everything will fall into place. I know it to be so.

Today I was reminded of an allegory from one of my favorite philosophers, Plato. It's called the allegory of the cave and it describes the difficulty of explaining abstract ideas to those who have not experienced them. Once you have seen light, you lose the desire to play in darkness. Those who judge worth by the skill at which you play in the dark will value you lower. Attempts to explain wisdom gained from the light will fall on deaf ears unless they too have been in the light. Each person must discover the truth for his or herself. It cannot be explained or taught, only encouraged.

Wikipedia's breakdown of Allegory of the Cave:

Imagine prisoners who have been chained since their childhood deep inside a cave: not only are their arms and legs immovable because of chains; their heads are chained in one direction as well so that their gaze is fixed on a wall.

Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which puppets of various animals, plants, and other things are moved. The puppets cast shadows on the wall, and the prisoners watch these shadows. Behind this cave there is a well-used road, and upon this road people are walking and talking and generally making noise, which echoes off of the wall. The prisoners, then, believe that these noises are coming directly from the shadows they are watching pass by on the cave wall.

The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game: naming the shapes as they come by. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of objects. They are thus conditioned to judge the quality of one another by their skill in quickly naming the shapes and dislike those who play poorly.

Suppose a prisoner's chains break, and he is able to get up and walk about (a process which takes some time, as he has never done it before). Eventually he will be compelled to explore; he walks up and out of the cave, whereby he is instantly blinded by the sun. He turns then to the shadows on the floor, in the lakes, slowly working his way out of his deluded mind, and he is eventually able to glimpse the sun. In time, he would learn to see it as the object that provides the seasons and the courses of the year, presides over all things in the visible region, and is in some way the cause of all these things that he has seen.

Once enlightened, so to speak, the freed prisoner would not want to return to the cave to free his fellow prisoners, but would be compelled to do so. Another problem lies in the other prisoners not wanting to be freed: descending back into the cave would require that the freed prisoner's eyes adjust again, and for a time, he would be one of the ones identifying shapes on the wall. His eyes would be swamped by the darkness, and would take time to become acclimated. He might stumble, Plato asserts, and the prisoners would conclude that his experience had ruined him. He would not be able to identify the shapes on the wall as well as the other prisoners, making it seem as if his being taken to the surface completely ruined his eyesight.

"But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light..." -Plato

We are living in the most exciting of times. Don't forget to pay attention to what's going on. If you're observant, you'll notice patterns and trends. It's all there for you to see if you will open your eyes.