eThoughts : Just Wondering

Why are we so often so rude to each other? Are we afraid that without rudeness others won’t learn? Are we convinced that without shutting others out, we will surely be imposed upon? Is being courteous a sign that we are marks, standing ready to be taken advantage of?

Maybe we just don’t have the cognitive skill and temperament to set boundaries in polite, yet real ways. Maybe because developing those skills is just too much trouble. Or maybe we just like being rude. It is a strange form of power, but rudeness does get into people’s spaces.

Ahhh, authority. Why is that considered a higher order? Don’t we all know something—don’t we all have authority in some way or another (think autistic savant)? Are we demeaned when we don’t know something, or even a lot of somethings? Maybe we are demeaned if we accept such demotions—after all, sales won’t work without a buyer. Maybe we could have the authority of awareness and just not buy everything being marketed.

Why is intimacy so difficult? Is it because we’re more aware of being shut out than being let in? Is being shut out more important than being let in? Hmmm, that may deserve some pondering…

Why do we hang on to so much—including whatever our prime directive is? Is our awareness so slippery that setting something aside practically guarantees that it will be lost? That’s interesting in and of itself. It’s like we know we’re dunces and can’t be trusted with finding our way without a lot of strings attached to everything we like or don’t like. A compass heading is one thing, but a known direction doesn’t mean knowing all that will arise along the path, much less that we can hang onto all of it. Landmarks can change.

Why are disguises so effective? Are we so caught in the external that essences are lost in the apparel? A tree can be idly chopped down because it is just a tree—it doesn’t cry or feel or have the roots of existence? Humans we don’t understand can be dismissed and dehumanized because we can’t find each other’s humanity in the manifestation?

Why do we talk about tolerance more than acceptance? Is the concept of tolerance more avant-garde than acceptance? Does acceptance imply that we lose our spine and give up? Does acceptance mean that we can’t act or can’t influence? Or did we just decide about our own limitations?

Why do we talk to ourselves so much? You know, our internal dialogue. Is emptiness death? Is stillness the absence of stimuli? Do we solve things in the stuff of our ramblings or in the spaces? A house without spaces is not a place to live.

Why do we need so many answers? Why don’t we have more questions? Why don’t we question our answers as a matter of practice? Are accomplishments more about answers than questions?

Are accomplishments our real unit of measurement? Are things we can measure the only thing of substance? What are “things”?

Why don’t we listen more? If we do like answers more than questions, how do we expect to hear those answers in the roar of our expectations? When we ask questions and don’t get the answer we want, maybe we were not asking the right question.

Look at the ones we love, look at what we have, look at what we are. Maybe those are the real answers to the real questions we asked. When we don’t like our lives, maybe it’s not a different life we need, but a different view.

Why don’t we spend more time starting with where we’re at, instead of where we want to be? Isn’t it easier to create and find our way if we know where we are and not just where we want to be? Isn’t knowing where we are more enlightening than knowing where we want to go?

Hmmm—I dunno, I was just wondering…