Be Like Water..

What's up happy People. Deji here

This is Chapter 4 from "Perception is a Bitch."

BE LIKE WATER ?

“Empty your mind…. Be water my friend.”

?From the time we are born, grow and transition into adulthood, our minds take form by developing filters. Your filters are, I am Rich or Poor. I am Black or White. I am Gay, Straight, or Bisexual. I am a Conservative, Republican or Democrat. These absolute truths become the lens through which you build your reality.

?We define ourselves as Nouns. And because these definitions work on humans the same way blinders work to keep a racehorse tunneled in, you are unable to keep your moral code flexible, adapting to new situations and circumstances as life presents them to you. The people who get swept away by the tides are the ones so firm in their convictions that they cannot move.

Our minds simply cannot just be without an opinion or a thought. It cannot exist without its filters and biases. And unlike water, your mind will fight to preserve its point of view, even when your life circumstances change and demand you adopt a radically new perspective to survive.

If you put water in a cup, water will become the cup. If you put water in a bottle, water will become the bottle. If you put water in a teapot, water will become the teapot. To keep your mind formless or shapeless like water, you must have the self-awareness to know when your perspective no longer serves you. You must also have the mental flexibility and humility to accept a truth you may once have denied. Your truths and your beliefs should be subject to change, not absolute.

If you cannot keep your mind flexible like water, it is then impossible in the literal sense for you to be an objective person. At least in their own minds, people are seldom, if ever wrong. They project the perceptions that exist in their minds as universal common sense. The interpretations we give to the media we watch or content we consume come from our rational and thought-out perspectives. One man watches a video and feels defeated and hopeless. Another man watches the same video and is inspired to achieve. While it is impossible to know the filters that give interpretation to the content, what we do know is that whether right or wrong, both these men will go on to have two very different lives. The only variable is the perception/interpretation they have about the content.

Only innocent children in their first few years of life can truly experience the privilege of a mind without perceptions and perspectives. If you have ever had the pleasure of conversation with a child, you probably noticed the genuine curiosity and desire to understand your perspective that the child displays in the conversation. The mind of a child at this stage is in a vacuum with no bias to draw from.

So, children instinctively follow these two principles to keep their minds formless and shapeless like water. You should too.

1.?????They assume positive intent because there is no assumption made.

2.?????In conversation, they genuinely seek to understand.

?But as time goes on, they begin to lose the very qualities Jesus himself encouraged adults to emulate. As we fill their minds with perspective, they begin to lose the ability to be rational and without bias. These answers are the perspectives that become the filters they will then use to contrast all other ideas well into their adult years.

Whether it is the need for a meaning to comprehend tragedy or painful loss, our minds cannot exist in emptiness. Not knowing drives our minds crazy and makes us afraid. We are unable to let our minds just be and exist in nothingness. It is easier for people to make shit up, than just simply say, “I don’t know.” Our minds need interpretation. People always need answers. They always need a why.

Our existential need for answers because our minds cannot exist in a vacuum, is fundamentally why there will always be a market for leaders and philosophers. People who give easy answers to complex questions and provide our lives with guidance. This leads us to then make damaging assumptions and conclusions. You will most likely not even recognize the assumptive conclusions you are making because your mind disguises them as rational thoughts.

?Trying to find out whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the first set of big questions in our lives. All other questions come after. So, we make up narratives, stories, and systems to explain everything. Because the mind cannot exist in a vacuum, there are many philosophers who provide systems that help navigate the many industries of life. I.E religion and faith, money and finances, government, and politics.

Most people do not know what philosophical system their perspective on the purpose and meaning for their lives come from. And so, I will now show the contrast between the two biggest ideas on purpose and let you assess them for your life.

Essentialism

The idea that all humans are born with a “gift”, a “Why”, a purpose is the foundation for the philosophy or school of thought we know today as Essentialism. Per the idea, we humans are given our essence, pre – existence. The Essentialist would then argue that everything is born or created with a predetermined moral purpose. In other words, NOUNS (people/places/things) have a very specific set of characteristics that make them who or what they are.

For example, it really would not matter if a knife had a wooden or metal handle. However, if the knife does not have a blade, then it would not be a knife anymore. This is because the blade is the essence or” why” of the knife. Man, in sort of a god-like role, brings the knife into existence to serve a predetermined purpose - to cut things with. Without a blade, the handle would essentially have an existential crisis. It would be a lost soul with no meaning. Even if it created for itself a different reason to exist, - that new meaning would be opposite to what man (Its creator) originally intended it to be. This is what people mean when they tell you to live and be true to your purpose. They are asking you to be true to what god may have pre-determined for you.

Back in ancient Greece, the philosophers Plato and Aristotle were early pioneers of the idea that everything has an essence including human beings. Much like the knife, they also claimed that people are born with a certain quantity of core qualities; a purpose or birth right that makes them uniquely who they are.

Essentially, the meaning of life according to the philosophy of essentialism would then be the lifelong quest to find our “why,” or that which prevents us from killing ourselves. It is in this way of thinking that you typically find the values of Persistence, Perseverance, Hard work, faith, fate, hope, and belief translated into these nuanced micro expressions. “You were born for a reason”, “never give up”, “Follow your dreams”, “Pursue your Passions” and “believe in yourself.”

Since you have no blueprint, no map, no outline from birth guiding you to discover the very essence for which you are born, man – and by man, I mean you, are then plunged into a deep desperation or depression, asking yourself the same questions Albert Camus described as absurd. “What is my purpose?”, “Why am I here?” or “What am I meant to do?”. This mindset will then drown you in the romantic idea and narrative that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

Thus, this very rational way of thinking pioneered long before the great minds of Plato and Aristotle inevitably leads you to an existential crisis for one reason alone.

After all these years of searching, you have still not yet found your purpose, passion or become who you were created to be.

You may not realize this, but the perception that you are born for a reason or born to do something great with your life, may have been a bitch in your life. This is because this mindset can cause you to miss the “obvious opportunity” that is in front of you. That job at McDonald’s may have been the path to your greatness. But perception is a bitch because you couldn’t see beyond flipping burgers.

You are so focused on chasing your dreams, purpose, or passion that you will miss the opportunity in plain sight at the 9 – 5 that you think is a bullshit job or that you “don’t have a passion for.”

Since you believe that you are born to do something great or, “be somebody specific”, you could miss obvious opportunities because you are in the mindset to chase what you perceive to be your true passion. You will take these mundane and uninspiring jobs only as a means to a short-term end, while you find yourself or complete the greater goal.

This mindset then becomes a bitch of a blind spot if it causes talented individuals to miss the economic opportunity they are searching for. Such is the hefty price you pay for believing you are born with a purpose and for a reason.

Existentialism

The viewpoint that Purpose comes before birth was widely held as absolute truth in the world until the mid – 20th century. It was around this time that the Existential philosopher John Paul Satre proposed an alternate rational way to think. Satre asked; what if, “Existence Precedes Essence?” What if we are born first and it is up to us to create our own purpose in the world? This new point of view would become the mantra for what we know today as the Existential Movement. In this context of thinking,” you are born with no pre – set purpose or passions but are burdened with the freedom to create your own passions and purpose.

In this mindset, you are the true INVICTUS, the master of your fate…… the captain of your soul. You create your purpose and passions by using the tools and context around you for influence. However, this philosophical perspective is also flawed as it leads you to an Existential Crisis for a different reason.

You created your own purpose, set goals and dreams for yourself. However, achieving your goals and becoming what you set out to be, has not brought the long-term fulfillment, happiness, and contentment you thought it would bring.

While Essentialism and Existentialism may be two different but equally rational philosophical perspectives, they both become evil when believed absolutely. A man needs to know both principles can be applied to make his life better, and he needs to know when to apply them. So, be like water.