Ignorance may be bliss

"The unexamined life is not worth living"


     I know I have written a small bit on this quote before, but of late it has been a reoccurring thought in my head.  I believe the reason for this is the certain amount of relevance that this statement holds in my life.  College is often considered a period of enlightenment, self-seeking, or change in one's mental awareness.  And thus far, it has been.  However, the more that I explore the depths of my own entity, the more I finally understand why ignorance is bliss.  I often fall into fits of depression and useless nostalgia over myself and the truths I discover about the world around me and I find myself lying on my back staring at the ceiling or the stars wondering "what God had wrought when he made life so sad".  Naturally this thought stirs up abhorrence in my being to the fact that I would even dare consider my blessed, wealthy, abundant life to be a tragedy, and this self-scolding of my pathetic mental state wrap back around to the vicious cycle of personal over examination.
      To make the blanket statement that the person who does not evaluate their life is worthless seems to me to be a naive statement.  Yes, I know - calling Socrates naive, who the hell do I think I am?  But I am not discrediting any of his reasoning for this statement, I merely believe that he was not aware of a way of living in which knowledge and introspection were not the ultimate stepping stones to reaching one's potential.  After all, he was a philosopher.  In a sense, he considered his profession to be the means by which the value of a life is measured.  Although I do not know enough about Socrates' life to say this with certainty, I imagine him as a man who spent the majority of his time reading, hypothesizing, and teaching, rather than cultivating in meaningful relationships, enjoying simple pleasures, or partaking in exploration and adventure.  How could he know of the true satisfaction that can be experienced through the act of mindlessness when his greatest hunger was for explanation and knowledge?
     Thinking of this statement reminded me of Plato's Republic, in which the philosophers were the ultimate.  This idealistic view of society can often lead to a feeling of entitlement in those that do have the means to pursue deep thought and I believe that this is detrimental to a culture's mindset.  Power is most often viewed as one of the most enviable components a person can possess.  This is attained through the glorified pursuit of knowledge and wealth.  In contrast, the feeling of falling in love or allowing yourself to exist in the stillness of nature or anything else that truly provides an inner peace or God himself are often looked down as weak and pathetic ambitions that will lead that wanderer down a broken path.  I do not believe that one should be placed above the other but rather components of both should be grasped in order to make a truly satisfying life.  And if one chooses not to partake in serious examination of their life but instead uses it to explore their passions or to develop characteristics that they desire or to bless others, then I believe they have lived a life not only worth living but one with a superior sense of peace.
      As I advocate a direction away from education as the only ideal, I do not mean to infer that a lack of depth to oneself is a greater alternative.  I am by no means endorsing shallowness or dullness, but rather I am presenting the possibility that a life focused more on experience can often be much more fulfilling than a life spent in unnecessary thought about the human condition.  I believe that this over analysis often leads to a person being wrapped up in their own mind which causes them to have an inhibited view of the needs of others around them and to miss the opportunities of selflessness that often develop true joy in both parties.  What does this statement say about all the people who live in a mentally diseased state such as autism and do not have the faculties to be able to examine their lives?  Does that mean that their life is not valuable due to their reduced state?  Some of the happiest faces I have ever seen are from those that have a mentally retarded condition.  I believe their excitement is one of the purest forms of unadulterated joy present in the world.  Their ignorance is mandatory but it often is a sincere form of bliss and to even entertain the thought that their lives do not matter is unacceptable and discriminatory.  
     If only, to not know.  You see, to not know means that you can go on every day without being hypersensitive to subtle hints of human shortcomings, to be without the annoyance of the overactive tendency to perceive and decipher every word spoken, without every facial expression evaluated, every conversation subsequently analyzed.  It means that you can enjoy the wonders of this world without nitpicking every thought, happening, or word that comes across your path and you can allow yourself to breathe, to breathe the sweet and restoring air that tells us of the unnecessity of knowing everything about this captivating place that only our Creator can fully understand.
 

"I was like geez why are you friends with such a slut!"

Labels are thrown around so easily.  Girls are so fucking stupid.

The Weird and the Wicked

"Wow, the rain really brings the weird people out."

I knew she said it without any adverse connotations, but I couldn't help feeling bothered by the comment.  The "weird people" she was referring to were the homeless, many of which were struggling to stay dry, fed, and sane.  Those trying to attain the simple things that we don't even give a thought to.  Her words reminded me of the unjust dehumanization that many homeless face on a daily basis.  Yes, there are those of them that engage in absurd mannerisms, yelling aimlessly out into the street or staring crazy-eyed at every passerby.  Or those that have allowed drugs to be the sole purpose of their existence, leaving them wasted, penniless, and without mental awareness.  Many have created homelessness for themselves, but who are we to judge even the possibility of someone who has perhaps encountered devastating tragedies or illnesses?  Society's aversion of the homeless and it's cavalier attitude toward their situation is aggravating.  Should we not look upon those less fortunate than us and feel gratified that we have been blessed with so much more?  Why don't we use our overabundance of wealth or time to touch the lives that are seeking the common necessities that everyone desires?  Why do we stare at them with such an utter disdain, feeling that we are greater because of the affluence that has been endowed to us?  In the words of Depeche Mode, "People are people"; in the eyes of our Creator, everyone is wicked and equally deserving of the depths of Hell (Psalm 9:17).