WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT?
In short, this blog is about observing balance in everyday matters, noticing the duality to everything in a bid to give you a better understanding of the world around you and how you may fit in to it.
As someone who used to suffer from rationalism, I slowly discovered that everything in this world is irrational unless measured by human metrics. With an interest in the human psyche, philosophy and spirituality I spend much of my day exploring the crossover between these topics, just seeing how far the rabbit hole goes.
Oscar Wilde said ‘everything in moderation, including moderation’. This idea of exceeding our preconceived capabilities and the converse of falling below our standards is part of human nature. To recognise when we have slipped below our self-imposed standards gives us the ability to learn and seek to improve. Likewise, there is a natural high to enjoy when we surpass our expectations.
Merely putting 'pen to paper', for me, is pushing boundaries. While I, like many of my compatriots am a deep thinker, finding the time to record these thoughts is no mean feat in our hyper-speed and somewhat distracting (Western) society.
This art of observing balance or duality is not about locating a fixed point on the spectrum, which you determine as a balance but being able to observe the dynamism of the spectrum and how it is affected when you receive new information. When you encounter a character that falls outside your predetermined spectrum, your mind instantly opens to new possibilities. Thus, the spectrum is non-linear and always shifting, unrelenting.
As a jack of all trades and a master of none, living in a world where eccentricity is prized as it goes hand in hand with a person excelling in a certain field, I, like many people become frustrated at not having had an epiphany for their ‘true calling’ and become a master of their vocation or titan of industry.
Without this ‘meaning’ and associated motivation, it is hard to abide by Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule. This is the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of study and practice to become an expert in a field. While out of context this time frame may seem excessive for time required to master a skill, it could very well be understated when somebody is truly passionate about their calling.
Our interests are always 'fleeting' whether you become obsessed with MMA videos on Youtube for a week, study medicine for 7 years or work as a bricklayer for 20 years, none of these interests truly define you because you may have lost interest in your work and directed your passion to 20 other things since. There was a lesson in whatever you did, for however long and you can assure yourself that your time was not wasted.
We spend much time searching for our ‘label’ and our labels shift depending on the context, yet we use these labels to represent others, whether it is John the carpenter at work or John the dreamer in his creative writing class. John is just John and defines himself moment by moment.
We each define ourselves moment by moment.
