Knowing is the first step, or might be just jumping...

Life can be an escape, and I'm almost sure it is for most. Paradoxes...

Photo by Sam Oth


As my blog friend Zac suggests, people do not know what they want. Couldn't agree more. How come?

Ask a little child what they want and most of the time they will answer straightforwardly. They just know. What happens as people grow up? Do the so called responsibilities of life take over? Do they/we forget? Is it because the world suddenly becomes 100 times bigger? What is it?

Something happens... do we loose the wonder of being alive? Do we find that we need to commit and compromise to a thousand other things that have little to do with ourselves? Do we even know ourselves? Do I know myself? Do you know who you really are?

I think part of knowing what you want is knowing who you are. And this knowing is not something mental, something carefully thought and pondered. It is more like an instinct. You just know. Something inside, like a force that wants to be expressed.

I recon part of the issue has to do with fear. Perhaps even unconsciously. That could explain the escaping bit. Because, let's face it... sometimes doing what you want means having the guts to actually do it. And I don't mean here carelessly throwing yourself into selfish actions that will affect others by putting them in danger, but really having the courage of going for what you want and make it work constructively for you and for others.

I really admire people that do this.

This said, sometimes to know who you are, you need to just jump and see. I tend to think that knowing who you are takes a lot more time that knowing what you want. A person is not closed system, there is always interaction with the outside world, they mold each other: a constant play of give and take - a dance.

And then, there's time. You might want something now and ten years down the track that might have changed. What you want is different.

And then, you-I-we die. At least our physical existence. What to escape then?

On life...

I've been putting a lot of attention to life. What is this thing called life? What is behind people's intentions and actions, words and dreams? What's behind my own?

I love observing the world around me as much as participating in it. Sometimes detaching myself a little bit helps in getting clarity about me and the rest of the world. It brings focus to the sometimes seemingly chaotic world. I watch people going on with their lives, following their routines, doing what they do. Some look happy, perhaps comfortable. Others look stressed and confused. A lot just seem to do what they do, 'just because'. I often get the sense that a lot of people do what they do not so much because they really want to, but because they are escaping something. A few times I have met people that really enjoy what they do and put themselves fully into it. Something shines with their doing.

Fascinating...