By Skot Ward

We are angry beings because we perceive our ideologies as permanent, and try to apply them to the dynamic and transitory state of the reality existing within the realm of our perception. Change is inevitable; we war with ourselves and one another over this universal truth.

The problem is that we perceive our ideologies as a permanent solution, and try to apply them in this way to the world in the first place. We neglect to take into account that our thoughts and beliefs evolve along with the rest of us. We try to put them in a bubble so that they'll never be altered, and we do this because we need the security of something which will always remain the same. We require something we can rely upon to define who and what we are despite whatever may occur upon the shifting sands of this world we're standing upon.

Do we ever truly let go to experience the menagerie? Do we ever stop clinging to the rock and allow the waves to carry us to other places, other faces?

We rely upon ideologies to tell us who, and what we are, we allow ourselves to be defined by them. By accepting as unquestionable truth the sovereignty of these ideologies, we are allowing them to dictate to us what we are and are not “allowed” to experience, with whom, and even if and when we do. We are angry because we seek a whole experience as human beings and we often do not allow ourselves the freedom to experience this whole perception because of these learned and indoctrinated belief systems.

So what do we do? We attempt to limit the experiences of others because our own experiences are limited. We volunteer to take away the rights of other people who are attempting to experience their whole existence because we are not allowing ourselves to do the same. We feel as though if we do not have the right to do what we please, (because of what we believe to be the one and only truth), then no one else should be able to either. What we forget when we do this however, is that we are choosing to stomp out the rights and validity of other people because of our adherence to beliefs and principles which differ from their own. We falsely believe that we are threatened by allowing others to be who they wish to be. This is what we do to ourselves; this is what we do to one another, and it is all derived from the tenets of our learned, indoctrinated, and adopted systems of belief.

When our own personal security threatens the happiness and sometimes the very lives of others, we must ask how secure it is. We must question it's validity and relevance. When what we are tenaciously holding onto to define ourselves in the world is exactly what is hindering us from not only our own evolution, but the onward progress of humankind, then we must question it's continual application within the world itself. We are products of our environment and with that changing environment comes the evolution of our beliefs, thoughts, and actions as individuals. We cannot afford to allow the arcane to dictate the policies of an ever changing world.

We must let go of the rock before it crushes us. 
 

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