That's my premise. That's the gist of my thesis right there.
One way of living Life is coming at it from it's not
enough. Coming at Life from it's not enough, oddly enough,
is neither a decision nor a choice. Coming at Life from it's not
enough is tantamount to a reflex. It's built
in to the
epistemology
... which is to say it's not enough isn't something you
naturally know, even though it may really seem like something
you naturally know. Neither is it something you're naturally sure
about, even though it may really seem like something you're
naturally sure about. Rather, it's not enough is woven
into the fabric of how you hold what you know. It's
embedded in the
machinery
of how you're sure about what you're sure about. In a word,
it's not enough is what "runs" you.
My thesis also proposes Life lived when it's not enough
runs you, presents a certain limited, distorted vista of
opportunities, of possibilities which is totally different than Life
lived when it's not enough doesn't run you.
Another way of living Life is coming at it from
something's wrong.
Coming at Life from
something's wrong
is also neither a decision nor a choice. It's also tantamount to a
reflex built in to the
epistemology.
It isn't something you naturally know, and neither is it something
you're naturally sure about, although it
shows up
occasionally disguised as something you naturally know, or disguised
as something you're naturally sure about, or both. Rather,
something's wrong
is woven into the fabric of how you hold what you know.
It's embedded in the
machinery
of how you're sure about what you're sure about. It's another
automatic assessment which runs you.
My thesis further proposes Life lived when
something's wrong
runs you, presents a certain limited, distorted vista of opportunities,
of possibilities which is totally different than Life lived when
something's wrong
doesn't run you.
Life looks and feels a certain way when it's lived coming from it's
not enough: neither satisfying nor fulfilling. It also looks
and feels a certain way when it's lived coming from
something's wrong:
neither satisfying nor fulfilling. When Life is neither satisfying nor
fulfilling, it's a constant struggle to be right and to
survive.
When Life is lived coming from it's not enough and
something's wrong,
the mindset is there's no other way possible to live.
When the mindset is there's no other way possible to live, the mindset
adds "everyoneknows" this is the way it is. The
mindset adds "everyoneknows" it's not enough. The
mindset adds "everyoneknows"
something's wrong,
and if you don't know it, you're the fool who should wake
up and smell the sulphur dioxide. When the mindset is there's no
other way possible to live, it becomes self-agreeing, it
becomes self-referential, it becomes self-reinforcing.
That's what it looks like when you knowit's not enough. That's what it looks like when you knowsomething's wrong.
That's what it looks like when it's not enough and
something's wrongis the way it is.
I assert it takes, for want of a better word, a certain grace, a
certain good fortune, a certain presence of mind, a
certain not settling for the status quo, a certain not settling
for
business as
usual
to get behind the premise it's not enough and
something's wrong
"is the way it is", and to tell the truth unflinchingly:
that this "is the way it is" is merely an
epistemological
lock,
a defense mechanism you yourself made up and put in place
at an early age, then forgot and / or denied it was you who made it up
and put it there in the first place ... and then it became "the
truth" for you. The distinction between it's not
enough and
something's wrong
as "the truth", and as a defense mechanism you made up and put
in place at an early age, then forgot and / or denied you made it up
and put it there in the first place, has long since been obfuscated ie
it's become buried, it's become blurred.
Life is enough for me.
It's OK the way it is.
I'm whole and complete and satisfied. All my erstwhile
naïve aspirations which were supposed to supplement
Life to make it enough only got in the way of Life being
OK the way it is.
All my attempts to become whole, all my striving to get complete, all
my trying to attain satisfaction only got in the way of me being whole
and complete and satisfied. There's
nothing to do
to be whole and complete and satisfied. Life is enough.
It's OK the way it is.
I'm whole and complete and satisfied. It's all over for
Laurence Platt.
Question: what is there to do, living Life coming from Life is
enough and
it's OK the way it is,
as distinct from living Life coming from it's not enough
and
something's wrong?
The most useful answer I can share is at risk of sounding
famouslyZen-evasive.
It's this:
What there is to do living Life coming from Life is enough
and
it's OK the way it is
is whatever there is to do living Life coming from Life
is enough and
it's OK the way it is
- just as what there is to do living Life coming from it's not
enough and
something's wrong
is whatever there is to do living Life coming from it's
not enough and
something's wrong.
You always do what you do. You never do, you never have done,
and you never will do anything other than what you do. You
never do, you never have done, and you never will do what you
don't do. You only ever do what you do. The only
difference between what there is to do living Life coming
from it's not enough and
something's wrong,
as opposed to what there is to do living Life coming from Life is
enough and
it's OK the way it is,
is the self‑generated context, unrealized or realized, in
which you do whatever you do.
The twin
epistemological
locks
of it's not enough and
something's wrong
ensure Life is lived as nothing more than surviving like a
reflex. But Life is enough and
it's OK the way it is.
Stop lying about it! Living Life coming from Life is
enough and
it's OK the way it is
allows for living Life as an invention like a possibility.
Werner
Erhard
calls this "playing from win". It's already turned out. THIS
IS IT! and
worry is not a strategy.
* * *
The man in the gym locker room at 6:15am doesn't get it. I'm changing
into black running shorts and a clean white T-shirt. He sounds sincere
when he greets me with "How's it going?". I reply "It's going great,
and thank you for asking.". Suddenly skeptical (was he assuming I'd
complain about something?), he asks "What's so great about it?".
Smiling, on my way to run five miles on an elliptical, I say
"We're here, You and I. We're alive.". His blank stare tells me he
thinks I'm joking or being sarcastic. He thinks I mean "We're
'getting by'.". He thinks I mean "We're 'surviving'.".
He doesn't get it. I'm not joking. It's going great.
