It has hit me so strongly lately that life does not happen on a level playing field. When we compare ourselves with others, we just do not have all the information. And even if we have the information, we do not sufficiently take it into account. Social media exacerbates this. We all come into life with biological propensities, we find ourselves embedded in a culture. We have particular parents or caretakers, some very loving, some very abusive, and most in between. So many life circumstances are beyond our control. Traumas, other people we are involved with, environmental disasters, economic assets. Each individual comes into the world as unique and inhabits a place in the world that is distinct. Comparison so often gets in the way of our decisionmaking, for example our assessment of how we should be and what is best to do.
When we bite into a strawberry and want it to be a great orange, that gets in the way of enjoying the delicious strawberry taste. Each of us has a distinct flavor that needs to be appreciated for what it is, each of us appreciated for who we are. Comparison can steal our joy.
drawing by lynn
“Follow your bliss” does not always work for me. How do we keep working on projects that we are not that keen on? I feel duty bound to do some things, and there are other things that I just revel in. I find myself mistakenly thinking that if I were a perfect human being those things would always be lined up. But the human condition means that we are often facing things that must be done, yet are not that enjoyable. There are a variety of ways I find for getting me through a tough job, but sometimes I just need to take a break. I like to draw much more than I like to write. When I am working on a writing project, sometimes I just take a break to do a drawing. Then I can often dive back into the world of words with renewed enthusiasm. What do you do that revives you?
art by lynn
[…] every bole and limb begins to dance;
the universe’s light-fantastic prayer
now lauds a wooer taking still a chance
on just this cosmic ballet’s elegance
where nothing is decided in advance,
where hadrons jiggle in their resonance
while galaxies bebop and flowers blaze;
in cedars and wild animals I glance
a daily choreography of praise.
-from Micheal O’Siadhail’s ‘Five Quintets’Baylor University Press 2018
