February 1, 2022: Doing Something or Doing Nothing is Still a Doing

Look for those wearing insight honestly, sometimes shiny, sometimes blandly, sometimes with humor, sometimes with sobriety, but always with the integrity to improve. Anon

A place may not be a home. A home may not be a place. Hoo-nōs

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. Rumi

The impact of human agency—the footprint of our sojourn—is much more of a contributing variable in our lives than we tend to give it credit. Even while we are not responsible for all that goes on, we can and do play a major role, at least on this planet.

Our agency allows us to construct an intra-structure like the role of integrity and morality and their applications and in that, we are responsible. Sometimes that construct, and hence our agency, needs updating.

Looking up definitions of integrity and morality can be problematic. What does living by our principles actually mean? Always keeping one’s word seems a bit strident; what’s the procedure if we make a bad commitment? Does updating our principles usurp previous promises or does our previous word get grandfathered-in?

This review and upgrading process can be a mess if the basis for morality and integrity is derived from “on high” juxtaposed by fear of what’s “below.” Are we merely a response from one or both of those stimuli—life and consciousness as merely flotsam and jetsam, an illusion of contribution?

As one can see, even four short paragraphs on, flatlining can enter the process. Perhaps it did even sooner. And I’m sure such flatlining comes with a bevy of “reasonable” assertions why our attention is needed elsewhere.

Variable human behaviors can be unpredictable, but the work is not about standardizing human beings, it’s about standardizing the need to review the basis for and the impact of our agency, even if we find no change is called for. Perhaps an effective review involves trying to prove ourselves wrong, to find any structural weaknesses in our construct. Perhaps part of such a review is bettering our ability to discern the difference between interpretations and facts. If we find we’re doing well, then we schedule the next review. If we’re not, we upgrade our construct and improve our agency.

Perhaps our future is like a drop of water returning to the ocean. But in-between birth and death, what will be the impact of our construct, our agency, that may be part of the trail-markers for those to come? After all, whether we do something or do nothing, it’s still a doing and doings seem to leave a trail of some kind or the other. And even at that, let’s remember to also find that field beyond and have some peace together.

The Bumper Sticker Corner (for really big bumpers): Compass Headings?

Pondering what constitutes a better human is a worthy discussion.
Deciding what constitutes a lesser human is not.

Explaining the known or discovering the unknown can be a worthy effort.
Explaining an unknowable is futile, though many get paid for that bit of snake oil

The Story Corner: The Review

“What difference does anything make?” asked a disgruntled one. “For instance, why should I vote—what difference does it really make?”

“Sounds like you’ve just ‘made’ a difference after all.”