EndGameNYC

Originally Posted by EndGameNYC View Post

Experiences of boredom and loneliness aren't discussed or explored very much. We tend to take these things for granted; they just are what they are. They're not. The result is that we settle for less by "learning to live with" them, or by doing something to mute or run from the experience, such as drinking.

The fear of freedom often arises from the reality that we have many more choices in our lives than we allow ourselves to imagine. Imagine that.

I would, but it would throw this thread wildly off course. And it wouldn't be either brief or easy.

My perspective is not unique, but it's not for everyone. I share it with many people who have come before me. I tend to focus on the "darker side" of human existence, meaning those things that we dare not admit to ourselves or that are classified as "negative" experiences because they either provoke an intense reaction or challenge our assumptions about who and what we are. As an example, we eschew labels from other people, but seem content to place them on ourselves, thus limiting who and what we are. As long as those labels fulfill some personal need. We further limit our freedom by either assuming or convincing ourselves as to what we can and cannot do. How is that we do such things? How is it that we so regularly continue to make the same mistakes, convincing ourselves and anyone who'll listen that we've "learned" from them, yet continue to do them, sometimes under the guise of some other activity or behavior, and sometimes with such great enthusiasm? Where is the freedom in all that? Or is doing these kinds of things truly what it means to be free?

Why do we settle for what we know are fleeting moments of superficial safety and security, moments that carry a very heavy price, as in the case of self-medicating drinking, in exchange for eroding health; poor, damaged or broken relationships, or no relationships at all; an alarming absence of consistent well-being; poor and misguided decisions; self-defeating and destructive behaviors; and a general state of alienation in the world? I’m not just talking about people who are addicted. Is it a lack of knowledge? Experience? Wisdom? Do we really not know any better? One of my premises is that we know much more than we ever let on to. Ignorance provides plausible deniability for a great many destructive, misguided or hurtful things that we do in life. It isn't enough to claim that "I didn't know any better." I did. We do. It's the things that we do and not the things that we know that either give us power or bring us down.

I've already written more than I intended. Maybe I'll break down and put my thoughts in a blog some time.