I've been reading Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. These books are somewhat incredible in the fact they were published in the 90s yet they have a very accurate modern authoritarian tone. It's kind of scary. One of the presidents literally says they want to make american great again. I understand Reagan used similar messaging but Octavia did an amazing job.
In these books the main character, Olamina, writes a book called Earthseed: The Books Of The Living. Earthseed is her solution to ...idk, everything? It's not a religion but a way of understanding. The main character "discovered" these things.
I feel a very similar way about nature. I deeply connect with the idea of dropping our ego and observing nature without inserting humanity into it. The earth will outlive us so why do we insert ourselves into nature the way we do? Anyway, I have digressed.
Here ya go.
All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
Here is another section of Earthseed that's very apt for the moment.
Choose your leaders
with wisdom and forethought.
To be lead by a coward
is to be controlled
by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool
is to be led
by the opportunists
who control the fool.
To be led by a thief
is to offer up
your most precious treasures
to be stolen.
To be led by a liar
is to ask
to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant
is to sell yourself
and those you love
into slavery.
I didn't realize it until writing this post, but someone started godischange.org. I guess this is an unofficial version of the Earthseed philosophy from the books. It's interesting.
I'm not exactly sure why this speaks to me the way it does. I mean, I do, but it seems to be sticking in a way that most other things don't. When I say I know why, it's because I came to similar conclusions by myself naturally, on my own. I've always felt that the way most religions approach god is fundamentally flawed because they are created by humanity to solve humanities problems. Why would god give a shit about humanity in that way? That's ego. A real deity wouldn't be interested in ego or humanity in that way. A real god probably wouldn't give a shit about us at all. We are not special, nor are we the center of the universe. Any philosophy or religion based on this notion is wrong.
Over time the one thing that's been constant is change. Change shapes us, molds us, harms us and saves us. There is nothing without change. We don't exist without change and we don't live without change. We do not grow without change.
So to me, the one thing that makes sense is to realize we are finite, we will end. The universe, god, will go on long after we are gone. Change will continue after we've snuffed ourselves out with our greedy consumption.
Another interesting thought I've had over the last few years, and this connects in a fun way, is the idea of positive nihilism or optimistic nihilism. I'll try to explain. Let's first define nihilism.
-
The doctrine that nothing actually exists or that existence or values are meaningless.
-
Relentless negativity or cynicism suggesting an absence of values or beliefs.
"nihilism in postwar art." -
Political belief or action that advocates or commits violence or terrorism without discernible constructive goals.
We can see that nihilism generally has a negative connotation to it. We've all seen The Big Lebowski. He fucking hates nihilists, man. Nihilists are generally seen as selfish, right? Nothing matters so why bother? We're all gonna die so let's have a party. There are no real consequences.
Positive nihilism flips this on it's head. If nothing matters, it can be extremely freeing. No longer are we burdened by the guilt of being a part of a broken, cruel system. We can make mistakes, we can be imperfect without feeling bad about it. We can shed the shame that harms us, scares us, and keeps us from being what we can really be.
Going one step further, this means that our experience is all that matters. What we do here is all that we will ever do. Will it be remembered? No. Nothing will. Does this give us a free license to be horrible? Sure, but it also gives us a free license to be good. If I can be good or bad, why wouldn't I be good? My time here is all that matters. Why not make it good? Why not use this meat sack to do good things? If nothing matters then we are lucky to have this experience.
I really like this line from SNSociety's post:
If you accept the basic principles of moral and existential nihilism, your first realization may be that you’re left with nothing. But that paves the way for the next realization: that nothing can be lost. With that dual insight, you gain a special type of liberty. Not legal or physical liberty, but the mental and moral kind. You become liberated from every “should,” “ought,” and “must.”
Where this really starts to matter is the ego. I will define ego as our own self-importance over all other things. I don't matter, you don't matter. Our existence will not be remembered. Why do we make everything about ourselves, then? Why do we justify things that only benefit an individual or a group? If the only difference between doing something and not doing something is how it affects me, why does me matter that much? At least for me, this allows me to give without needing praise, without needing people to know. I can help a total stranger because I know they are just like me, we are equals in this temporary existence. I'm free from my ego. I'm free to love without expectation. Good becomes about more than me.
A great way this manifests, at least for me, is honesty. Without this ego or temptation to think about short term selfish benefits, it allows me to reflect on myself in a much more honest way. I can say to others, "I made this choice for these reasons" without feeling guilt. I can look at my thinking and call out the negativity without the shame. I can be really honest in ways that the ego doesn't allow me to be. I'm no longer chained by the ego, I can explore the world with clear vision.
I'll take another paragraph to continue bitching about ego. The biggest problem that I see with ego is that there is no end to what it can justify, good or bad. I've always called this kind of logic racing to the bottom. What do I mean by that? Ego is very good at justifying harmful or selfish actions. This manifests in a bunch of ways and it's important to be aware of that. Where one person's justifications end, where the line is drawn, is often just the beginning of another person's ego. We will race to the bottom trying to use our ego to justify our bad deeds. There is no end to this logic until we kill ourselves off. One person goes so far with their ego justifications, then the next person starts where they ended, then the next person starts where the previous person ended, so on and so on. It never ends. If you use ego to benefit yourself or your group then it makes anyone else's justification valid as well. The only difference is perspective. There is no end. We can justify any war this way, any horrible act, anything. It never ends.
Another bonus is it really helps with checking capitalism's influence. I won't go into this here but it's very freeing in this context. Think about the previous part about honesty.
I'll try to end on a more positive note. Positive Nihilism allows me to be fully present. It allows me to stand in the forest and feel as if I am a part of the forest. It allows me to look at the stars and feel peace. It allows me to give myself to an action, an outcome, and become entirely devoted to it. It isn't about me. I am fully present and without ego. The world smells different, sounds different, feels different, looks different and tastes different. It is better in every way possible.
I'm not trying to convert anyone or whatnot. These are just some thoughts. I hope you enjoyed this. At the very least, I hope it made you think about something new.
If you'd like to read more about this way of thinking here are some links:
https://www.snsociety.org/positive-nihilism/
If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to reach out via the contact form or shoot me a text if you have my number.