The Secret . . .

Bring someone back from the 18th century and give them a talk show! That’s my number one suggestion for how our society might be able to overcome the unforgiving and torturous nature we have slipped into.  

Everything seems to be evolving quite nicely, and any overworked soul from the 18th century would be overwhelmed and amazed by just how far we’ve come. It would appear everything has evolved with the exception of man. The society we live in has begun to not only reject its members, but also stone their reputations past recognition.   
We are still sitting in an arena paying to see our fellow neighbors torn to pieces and fed to the lions. Why do we enjoy seeing people suffer for their mistakes, and even worse the mistakes of their colleagues?  

Exactly where we went wrong as man may unfortunately lie in the ways we grew industrially. Today, we spend our days complaining about pretty much everything. AND, we have several ways to make sure everyone we ever met, hears about it.  Survival may still be our first instinct, however, our day is no longer consumed by hunting down our food, building our shelter, or sewing our clothes. But if you had spent all day hunting down your food, I bet it would taste better purely based on the effort exerted to obtain it. And, if your mother had handmade your only jacket, I doubt it would end up on the floor, in a friend’s car, or stolen last night at the club. 

Unless you were involved in the work that went into making or doing something, it’s often difficult to understand, and unfortunately too easy to disrespect and take things for granted. Everything our ancestors did, they did with a sense of permanence, not the 'oh well, you only live once' slogan of our modern day society. Is it modern conveniences that have produced the insensitive, stubborn, and unappreciative bitch our society can unfortunately be generalized as?

Our entire society, the poor included, are all rich compared to the agricultural society of yesterday. Life was hard for them, the physical labor they exerted each day just to survive, would be unimaginable and excruciating for our current society. But at the end of the day, they rested in a bed they literally made, so it ‘s not hard to understand just how aware they were of the world they lived in.

The people of the agricultural society would be incredibly appreciative and amazed with the industrial and technological revolution. But they may not think so highly of our gossiping media, our heavy reliance on mirrors, (and dare I even speak it) empty churches.

Our society lacks awareness of pretty much everything outside of the media. We can read about and find answers to almost anything thanks to the Internet, but what we are actually reading can be summarized as societal junk food. It’s either news a.k.a. gossip or entertainment a.k.a. a more dramatized kind of fake news/gossip in the form of movies and TV shows.  

How would we live our lives differently if the average life expectancy was still under 50 years? Would cutting our lives in half trigger a desire for greater understanding and awareness? 

It’s always important to be aware that things are perhaps not the way you see them. In order to understand something you must first be aware of the possibility that other views exists –and rather just have yet to exist in your mind.  

Awareness provides the raw material from which we develop ideas about our experiences and the world around us. The mind may be aware of much more than we chose to take in and contemplate. Just because we don’t, does not mean we are not capable of more. Heightening one’s awareness is a choice, but primarily is arrived at by doing for oneself.

Instead of buying the perfect dinner for your date, try making it. Instead of buying a painting for your bedroom, paint it yourself. Instead of buying endless amounts of beer, try home brewing. Instead of just simply handing over money for everything, or being spoiled by parents or your partner, try doing for yourself and experience the awareness and appreciation and understanding that will naturally occur.  

Anything forced-practiced for a period of time, can become routine and performed with ease.

So make the philosophy of awareness a habit and understanding can be achieved. 

There’s a way to articulate our thoughts in a specific way that will minimize miscommunication and improve understanding. The right words in the right order –a golden combination- will deliver indisputable satisfaction and unlock pure silence. Silence a sign that the depths of understanding have been reached. 

You can dismiss this philosophy by oversimplifying the reality of our current society, but that would be ignoring the obvious imperfections even our government is unable to hide. 

The philosophy of awareness extends much deeper than words, actions, and appreciation. It’s about achieving a deeper existence, the nature of being with the world. An inner peace achievable by seeking more control over our own thoughts and works, and allowing that which is not in our control to simply be. The society of the 18th century was not necessarily better than ours, but they certainly were more self reliant, content in their life styles, and better understood and accepted their place among the chaos. A combination of their demeanor with our advancements would be a golden combination.

                The Philosophy of Awareness