Shifting the perceptions of others

Might be a tantallizing idea, but it often causes needless worry, stress, fear and hypervigilance.
The fleeting impressions of a stranger who has no influence over your life, how they percieve you, what thoughts arises as they see you, are their own business.
The thoughts someone may have about you, spanning all across the board, one person thinking and feeling something completely different from another. Some may see you as cold, weird, lame, desperate, and by some I mean a distant acquaintance, whose role in your life as long ago ended.

Why should we attach meaning and importance to the opinions of those who are no longer around, to those who do not care, to those who momenteraly interact slightly with you. If we are preoccupied with the inner dialogue of others at most times, we can easily become blind to the natural expression and desires we have, becoming obstructed by the incessant worry of what others might think. Some will find you attractive and pleasing, others will find you unnattractive and annoying. Its just part of the flow, but it may be wiser to focus on those who enjoy your company.

Yes, some people might have a terrible idea of who you are as a person, and see you as less than good enough, maybe even going as far as seeing you as a beast based upon how you carry yourself, a wackjob, someone with bad judgement. One can muster up all the possibly hurtful things, and someone out there might associate it with you. If you are having such debilitating thoughts about yourself, and suspect others are the same at all times, it might be time to do some rectification. Also if you deeply believe yourself to be unworthy, and start engaging with someone who calls you such to prove them wrong, you might believe it yourself. So what, there are also those who might ser you as kind, a real sweetheart, loving and compassionate. Often more times than not, those wth a better understanding of you see the deeper sides, and the core and more coherent truth of your being.

So go ahead, act cooky, be the lame person in a room, because someone else darting their eyes upon you, might see you as interesting, intriguing and exciting.
And besides, most of the people we pass, we never see again, just a quick passing with no real impact or meaning. So forget trying to impress every person that coexists with you in this world, and rather try to impress those who take the time to be with you, share moments with you, and love with you, and forget what wordplay you inspire in a random room filled with random people, who already has enough on their plate.

The exaltation of some vs the degradation of others

On the macrocosmic scale different nations, people within those nations tend to construct arbitrary value to a certain expression or way of being, and completely devalue everything that differs in the slightest. 

The dehuminazation of those who speak a language you do not understand, the belittling fo those who have customs and culture you find unappealling. And the creation of enemies for those you do not understand. 

Some nations have rallied behind leaders who might allude to a nation and its inhabitants as being worthless because they do not have the newest iphone. Leaders who might not see people in a different country as equal, because they do not drive a specific kind of car, or listen to the same music or watch the same movies. 

The indifference to destroying a country, because they have no multi billion building projects, and live closer to nature. Perhaps even because they do not drive the same cars. 

Some countries have no qualms about exploiting another country, if the people of that country have darker skin, and arent surrounded be concrete mazes. Seeing them as nothing more than undeveloped countries, because they differ from what we are used to in how they go about their day to day lives.

Examining carefully, as if holding a pair of weights, just how worthy someones life is or isnt, based on how much they like the culture and what it produces. Deeming one country more deserving of peace, stability and monetary safety, because they fit certain biased criteria of esteem. 

The narrative placed upon us since childhood, to sing praises to some nations, while demonizing others, and seeing the inhabitants as demons as well. Not as individuals. Ripe for exploitation, slavery, theft, hijacking of ressources, underminement the soveireignity of the people if they live in one country, but a first class priority if they live in another. 

The narrative that involves the lives of celebrities and leaders, as more important than others for some reason. The social construct we have been fed through media and education, that some do matter more than others. But the universe is endless, and there is no divine hand pointing us in such directions, other than ourselves on this tiny planet. The construct around us, created by us, upheld by us, and maintained by us. But not all structures need to stand.

On a microcosmic scale, we can surely have our own opinions, but when it comes to something as fundemental as lives, justice and fairness, the bigger picture should perhaps be considered.

Why not push the boundaries of goodness, instead of keeping up with the meaningless exploration of evil

History has proven itself to be fraught with torture, discriminnation, murder, genocide, greed, injustice, slavery and undescribable cruelty.

The limits of evil declared and acted upon, has been breached long ago. Mindless doings that causes indescribable hurt and pain, instigated to ensure power, dominance, supposed superiority and influence. 

The barr cannot go any higher, the consequences of evil has shown itself time and time again, and never bringing anything good with it. Screams, tears, hurt, pain, suffering, death, famine and illness are the only things evil can bring.

So we do we see people continuing the exploration of wicked ideas, do we need constant reassurance that the flow will somehow change, and that any good can come from what we already know is wrong. Some sort of confirmation of what is obvious, the obvious fact being that the actions spurred by hatred and cruelty will only result in misery. 

It is easy for disciminnation to evolve into exile, exile to lead into abuse, abuse transforming into murder, murder into mass murder. The seemingly mild forms of hatred quickly escalates into something far more dangerous.

When the seed has been planted, it grows accordingly, needing to be yanked from its roots. 

When record has shown all the ways possibly to induce suffering, all the tools and weaponry to inflict pain, do we really need to continue down such a road. 

Why not try to go the other way around, of goodness. A wild exploration into kindness, love, happines, to dive fully and deeply into the wonders it can bring. 

To explore goodness with wild passion, excitement, not knowing what it will bring or how it will manifest. Goodness has many more options to be felt and senses, many more ways to let itself be known as opposed to evil, which leads to the inevitable. 

Goodness can go in many unknown directions, roads that have not yet been traversed, sights that remain to be seen, emotions of joy waiting to be felt. It is far more mysterious, sensual, imaginative to find ways to love, instead of thinking of what tools can be used for torture and to inflict the utmost physical pain. 

Physical joy has a far bigger scope and range, than the limitations of physical pain. 

The many seemingly contradictory emotions and thoughts we have

We are often coerced into thinking that we can only feel one specific way about a person, a place or a happening. That we must choose between the feelings we hold, while discarding the others that also pop up if they seem irreconcilable. 

The idea that differing feelings cannot co-exist within oneself, that it must be either love or hate, joy or sorrow, and to enforce what sensation we hope will dominate the others.

To quelch one in favor of others, to trample fifteen fleeting emotions to make room for only one. 

Having been influenced by society to respond to people in a specific way, with little room for multiple interpretations and several layers of depth. 

Encouraged to have dislike for former friends, but the feelings of lingering joy they brought us floating to the surface, deeming it unnacceptable to still hold fondness for someone you wish to only associate with one fixed emotion when the partnerships are no longer a focal point of life.

When leaving a former place of residence, institution, town, we are tailored to easily classify the experience as either good or bad, diminishing the impact it has had on us to declare ourselves ready for the future. 

When we try to deny the emotions to be a part of us, no matter how confusing, weird, conflicting and surreal they are, we become frigid to our own truth to be felt and expressed. The impressions we have, are often lasting, and can trigger moods and feelings to simultaneously arise. Several drops of water in a large pond, each containing its own imprint of memory and reactions. 

Someone can trigger both fear, admiration, hope and longing in us, but words are sometimes not enough to describe the bewildering stimulus we have inside. When trying to control the reactions we have, and carefully choosing the response we wish to associate with, it is easy to become blind to the swirling wonders of of life. 

When faced with emotions that seem to contradict each other, know that they can operate together, and that both are valid in its right to be. 

The need to divide, create walls and refusal to interningle differing emotions, often causes a rigid framework that leaves little space for the elusive dance.

Just existing is good enough

We are often told what we need to do in order to improve our worth, our fictional stock of human evaluation, in order to rise in value and allure. 

That we somehow, after a certain age, are expected to evaluate ourselves based on how we do, what we do and how much we do. Most people accepting these imposed requirements, and taking them deeply to heart. If a percieved failure is noted in an area of life, we cast judgement upon that aspect, we ridicule it, bully it and make sure we change the future outcome. 

When always looking at ourselves with scornful eyes, we tend to forget that we would never judge a baby or a child the same way.

A baby is perfect when it is born, and that perfection is retained until passing on. There is nothing we can or cannot do, to qunch that inherent perfection that has always been a part of us. Some things just does not go away.

The things we do in life are glitter added, accesories, appendages to an already perfect existence. We choose to indulge in life, simply because we want to, we choose to find other people, because we need them, we choose to follow our destiny and calling, because we feel like it.

It is a part of enriching the perfection that is already there.

We often become more discerning, even going as far as saying who deserves food and who does not, who is worthy of love, and who is not, who should be alive, and those that should not. When engaging in such abrasive methologies, we often set oursves up for the same scenario, only in a reversal of roles. 

Sme think those who do not work in a hired profession, does not deserve food, and thus, ultimately deserves to die. If found in a similair situation, with no work or home, we have set ourselves up for death because of the pre established mindset cast upon those who came before. We say some people do not deserve love if they have made mistakes or said or done the wrong things, if we ourslves ever were to screw up, we are inadvertedly now in a position where we feel love should be denied. 

The thing to remember is that we are perfect, and that existing, just being around, hanging out, eating, walking, relaxing, is all it takes for us to be divine. Nothing more, nothing less, and if you chose to add on to your experiences, go ahead, but it does not diminish the value of those who lead a different life, or prefer to pursue a different path. 

Just exist, eat a banana, and be cool with that.

When 100 people look at one picture, you might get 100 different reactions.

There is a tendency to believe that a word such as happines can only describe one fixed sensations, and that it is felt on similair terms by all who use that word. A false ideal that we know exactly what another person is talking about if they articulate themselves in a specific way. Within the spectre of human emotions, there are billions of different shades, probably trillions with hints and flavors that make the sensation uniquely felt by the individual proffesing it. 

Some like to say that the world repeats itself endlessly, that there is no true novelty or breakthrough. Such could not be further from truth, the love a mother feels for her child, will he different for every mother, no one way of feeling can be an exact replica of what another feels and experiences. For every expression of love that is shared and brought to existence, it carries with it a unique spark that is new to the history of the universe. 

Sure, some moments and fragments of time might be similair, but do not mistake that for a static cloning operation that needlessly occurs. There are also those times when we might mimic the emotions and sensations of those close to us, in moments of complete unison, while sincerly being in the same space of complete understanding and merging of souls.

But it can be easy to forget that what we think, is not necessarily reflected around us, or how we feel.

Some might find sports and going to the gym shallow endavours, for others, it might bring them such joy and exuberance, that indulging in such activities is unbridled in scope of satisfaction and fullfilment. Some might find a hedonistic lifestyle to be a shallow grave of empty desires, while another person might find it brings them closer to divinty, their own being, the true core of their soul. 

The differences in reaction and pespective can be easy to overlook, quickly clouding our minds with judgement and a complete lack of understanding.

We all react differently to the stimuli and happenings surrounding us, and claiming a monopoly on how we profuse that people should react, should feel, when faced with a specific painting is tyranny. We all operate on different modalities, and a masterpiece to some, might be trash to another. 

The good old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder ringe true, but it also applies elsewhere. 

There are times when we simply refuse to acknowledge the mind of someone else, the heart of a friend, how they might have experienced something, leading into a narrow and claustrophobic corridor where the essence of I is the only essence. 

Just by interacting with a person, you might have 1000 different experinces when different meetings occur. Some might see him or her as evil, some might see kindness, generosity and consideration as integral keys to describe the same person. Even when looking at different angles, your answer might vary, seeing other sides that might shift your perceptions. 

In society at large, there can be a longing for unity by sacrificing true thought or emotions, coercing others i to believing the same as we do, seeing the world in the same colors as we do, people, institusions, politics etc, just to feel a sense of belonging

People forget that there can be a sense of belonging in true acceptance, and that not everyone has to think the same, be the same or act the same in order for there to be unity. It can also occur when there are differences, but such is swept under the carpet by those who profess that similarities is the only way to peace, a homogenized society is the only means to harmony and cooperation. They are obviously consumed by fear.

When we try to set something in stone, we forget that stones break

As time passes on, we believe ourselves to be wiser if we anchor constructs based on hard facts and absolutes with no derivative means to fluctuate. We believe ourselves to be the vessels of knowledge, if we deny room for flow, for the meanings to change, the past to dissolve, the present to unfold. Somehow we clamor to books containing specific facts, and spread the engraved information ceaslessly to others, questioning their intelligence and autonomy if they are not willful reciprocants of said information.
Stuck in the squares and rectangles of a limited imagination and understanding, desperately holding on to snippets of thoughts to construct a rigid reality where unchanging truth is the only way to function.
We seem to forget that we can barely remember what we had for dinner last week, what words were spoken the day before unless we write them down, what actions we took a month before, the faces that pass us by each day. The newspapers of consumed information, cast in the garbage bin moments later.
There is not much that we can truly recall and describe in exact default from our own lives, as the lines seem to blurr interchangeably, the solid memories of today melting by the dawn of the new sun tomorrow.

When we try to project a specific reality around us, such as insisting that a convicted criminal can only be evil, we are presented with evidence by the great jester of the universe to remind us of our ignorance. When we insist that there are no surprises left for us, a shocking awakening taking different forms alights our souls for another challenge to our perceptions. When we commit to an idea of prejudice, we are slapped by a gigantic invisible hand to see another side, and for the spanking to continue until we open our eyes and release the preconcieved notion.

If we try to adamently rule out all variables which has not been experienced by our own subjective truth, we can often become stuck in a narrow tunnel with no flowing lines or dancing shapes. If we come to realize that there is little we can truly know, besides what we ourselves have gone through, we become open to new worlds of possibilities and experience. Even our own subjective truth is fleeting as states in the preface above. Although there are a few things we can know, they are by far exceeded by what we do not.

There is a tendency to believe that anything that does not benefit us directly, is wrong

This can be seen throughout the span of history, it even goes to such lengths that people believe anything of which they do not simply like or agree with must be somehow evil. With an overarching emphasis on ones personal emotions and reactions and what it can offer us.

Some Americans did not like communism, so they want to war in Vietnman and slaughtered thousands simply because they do not agree with it. Some people feel a hint of uncomfortable sensations arise when being around gay people, so they convince themselves those people must be evil simply because it does not jive with them. This slight unease causes some to violently attack, harass and discriminate.

These are some of the bigger examples, but it extends beyond. Some might think that an employer has made the wrong decision by default if they are not the ones promoted, because it does not exalt them in any way. Some might think that a woman is selfish if she goes through with a divorce, because it felt wrong to her partner, and therefore the moral conviction that she has caused ill is enforced. 

Som might think that a culture is backwards and lazy, if it does not operate under the same terms as theirs. Because anything that differs from what they themselves enjoy and thrive being a part of, must be described in deragatory terms. 

The false notion that anything which feels wrong to oneself, must belong to a vicious and corrupt adversary with cruel thoughts and intensions. The truth can never be so black and white, and those who easily labels and discriminates any factor or game they do not wish to play, fails to see more perspectives than just one. The one stemming from themselves.
Even going so far as saying that any opinion or sentiment which does not come into allignment with mine, is predetermined to be wrong. Neglecting any room for a middel ground, and being caught up in ones own rigid beliefs.

We also see this clearly in politics, where any candidate that does not directly appeal or promise greater riches and opportunity to the camp you place yourself in, must be the spawn of an evil underworld. 

The concept of good and evil is crass, when the lines have always been vague and undescript. We do not always know how our actions influnce others, or how it shapes our environment. When someone makes a decision or move where you feel shafted, try to remember that there are several factors at play which led them to such actions, and that it does not directly have to please or sooth you in order to be classified as right or wrong. 

The rampant I give you something you give something to me conundrum

In society today we see people obsessing over services, services they can offer others, and services they demand in return. This is seen most clearly in the workforce, where there is tangible means to make others to stuff for you. We invest several hours a day, doing something for someone else, so that they in return will do something for us by giving them money. 

Thinking it must be worth offering all those hours in order to get a paycheck, so that we can use that paycheck to recieve goods and services from others. 

Some people spend their entire lives to make others their servants, to have other people make their food, fly their planes, deliver their groceries, create their clothes, arrange their furniture, craft their stuff. Being rejoiced by the fact that somebody somewhere did something for them, and thinking that this is a perfect circle of justice and truth. 

In western society we feel an aching need to have supposed choices, that there must be five grocery stores right next to eachother because we prefer the høres employes in one place over the other, because one store is 5 minutes closer than the next. All the stores having to be bemanded by a willing straff to indulge your need for self-indulgence by giving you their time and efforts. 

When did so many forget that it is possible to do things oneself, that it is okay to make your own food and give freely without demanding anything in return, or throwing a hissy-fit if what you believe you deserve is not served in return. People often forget that they can use their own imagination, creativity and will to be an integral part of life. Instead of expecting that it is always someone elses job to practice their own power to benefit us. It is quite the exhausting circle to be a part of, when ruled by concepts such as give and take. Believing that if you give something, you have the divine right to also take. If the process is not functioning properly according to your beliefs, you start to belittle those who did not give you what you wanted.

Being lulled into believing that in order for contentment and happines to arrive, we must be given something, aquire something, have others treat us in a very certain way, entertain us by giving them money, only a good meal if we pay someone for it. The idea that having others cradle us, do stuff for us, take care of us, give us stuff by paying them, as the only way to reach nirvana. You can create yourself, share, enrichen your environment, simply by being and knowing you do not need all that. 

It is quite possible to live peacefully, without always having servants employed around you, without feeling the need to throwing your money around in order for people to caress you, or caress other people to get their money. An old saying goes the best things in life are free, for where is the authenticity behind such a construed reality. Where the reactions and actions always have to operate like a clockwork or a machine. We throw free will out of the window when we expect the constructed system to always run in a perfect manner, without any room for imagined error or fault. 

Ask yourself why you feel the need to engage in such a gigantic wheel, is it because this is how you were told truth and beauty works, and that anyone who does not partake lacks those things. If you stoff at the concept and reality of slavery, realize that you indulge in a lesser variant of the same thing when you demand others to bend to your will in the name of money and time you spent aquiring those money. If we only give our time and efforts to have piles of money, so that other people can give their time and efforts to have piles of money, is there not something sad about such a reality? You do not always need others to live up to the enforced expectations you place on them, wether it be in the workplace, home, amongst friends or anywhere for that matter, because no one is your appointed slave, and you are the slave of no one. 

Give freely, and sometimes take freely, but try to let it be authentic, because a robotic and static world  is doomed to be boring and sad.