Your Contract with the Universe

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Do not deem my spirit fled

Start not -- nor deem my spirit fled:

In me behold the only skull,

From which, unlike a living head,

Whatever flows is never dull.

Author: Lord Byron

To me, skulls don't depict death and decay, but tell a story of some life lived somewhere, a soul that experienced life to the full and, like all things inevitable, came to an end, whether happy or sad. Within the confines of those bones lies the story of this Crow's many flights through the African sky, and perhaps the birth of many an off-spring. I hear him say, "I lived, I loved, I quaffed like thee; I died: let earth my bones resign".

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I need no label, no sanction

It is totally amazing how many people cannot accept that there are some that don't have a religion, that don't embrace the idea of worshipping a creator god and are not scared of hell and brimfire. Therefore a label has to be attached to 'what you are', and who you are, for the unknown has always been a fearful thought to mankind.

When you have a naturalistic approach which simply accepts and reveres the universe and nature just as they are, and promote an ethic of respect for human and animal rights and for lifestyles that sustain rather than destroy the environment, then you must be a Pantheist. (Scientific or natural pantheism is a modern form of pantheism that deeply reveres the universe and nature and joyfully accepts and embraces life, the body and earth, but does not believe in any supernatural deities, entities or powers.)

If you should per chance quote something, a really lovely thought, from the Bible, because there are a few good ideas in there, then you are a Christian. If you practice meditation, then you must be a Buddhist. If you believe in magic, then you must be a Witch. If you don't believe in god, then you are an Atheist. Et al.

Surely, therefore, if you believe that the devil exists, then you must be a satanist...?

There are many labels mankind has chosen to hang around the necks of "non-believers", segregating humanity into pockets of good, bad and evil. Anyone who has new or valuable ideas to offer stands outside the intellectual status quo. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to agree with others. But the creator is the man who disagrees. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to swim with the current. But the creator is the man who goes against the current. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together. But the creator is the man who stands alone.

To know one's own desires, their meaning and their costs requires the highest human virtue: Rationality.

“Because, you see, God—whatever anyone chooses to call God—is one's highest conception of the highest possible. And whoever places his highest conception above his own possibility thinks very little of himself and his life. It's a rare gift to feel reverence for your own life and to want the best, the greatest, the highest possible, here, now, for your very own. To imagine a heaven and then not to dream of it, but to demand it.”

 ― Ayn Rand, We the Living

Is it so difficult for anybody to believe that there are people who believe in themselves, trust in themselves, love themselves so much that they are quite at ease with the universe and nature just as they are and promote an ethic of respect for human and animal rights and for lifestyles that sustain rather than destroy the environment?

I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. And I believe that everyone has the right to make his own decisions, but none has the right to force his decision on others.

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Failing by default

Image from Tumblr)

I must confess that I err on the side of being over-cautious. I never put my cup of coffee on the edge of the table, but safely in the centre, just in case it gets knocked over. I always check that the pot handles are safely facing inwards on the stove so as not to bump any of them down, and having hot food or, worse, oil to clean up off the floor. I never put my cell phone down anywhere because I might forget it or lose it. I've never lost a purse because I AM obsessive about where I keep it. All my cupboards are kept in perfect order so that I can, even in the dark, immediately put my hand on something I'm looking for (probably stemming from the days when we were still building our house and had no electricity, only gas lights and having law and order in the cupboards made life so much easier).

I won't say I'm OC (obsessive compulsive) or a 'fraidy cat. I bathed in cold water one winter because the geyser had broken and the repair man could only come the following day and I even went to town one day without my cell phone! I therefore have very few things that go "wrong" in my life, but I must say this trait does not entirely endear me to friends and family because I was constantly pushing cups back and telling people not to forget their cell phones.

I was a control freak for a long time. As the oldest child of four, I've always been used to taking control and leading the way. I was born with this ability to quickly envision the most efficient way through a task, activity, project, problem, puzzle, or challenge. And it infuriated me that people could not see the "end result" at a quick glance.

While this system works well for me, I did not want it to impact on anybody else's life. The need to control can be very exhausting, both for the controller and the rest of the people and I came to realise that everybody has their own "best way" of doing things, that I do NOT have to control how they are going to get their result or how long it's going to take them. I also got to realise: live dangerously, let the cup break! It's an opportunity to buy new cups. And a new purse every now and then also wouldn't be such a bad idea!

"Don’t worry about this world; it is not broken. And don’t worry about others.You worry more about them than they do… There are people waging war; there are people on the battlefield who are more alive than they’ve ever been before. Don’t try to protect people from life; just let them have their experience while you focus upon your own experience." 

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Becoming and being everything

I don't complain often, because I always try and see the positive side of a story. And most of the time there IS a positive side. Life is full of positivity, even under the most dire circumstances. Even death can have a positive side to it if someone has been suffering horrific pain from an incurable disease for years and years.

But today I'm going to complain. In fact, I'm going to bitch. Bitch about people who can't stand it if you climb out of your box, dare to raise a different opinion than what they are used to hearing from you. They've put you in that box as "artist", "horse rider", "a nice person", a "christian", "a maths wiz" or whatever. And they can't believe that you dare climb out of that box and give up horse riding, are sometimes not as nice as you appear to be or that you've given up religion.

A while ago I met up with an old friend from my horse riding days about 20 years ago, and the first thing she did, after all the necessary pleasantries, was to ask after the horses. When I told her that I had sold them all about 15 years ago, she was absolutely stunned, replying, "Oh my gosh! So what do you do with your life NOW?!"

Are their minds so closed and one-tracked that they can't think outside the box? Even just consider a different opinion? Are they scared a "different opinion" might harm their own opinion, might even, heaven forbid! change their own opinion? Or don't they believe in growth, in change? That horse riding has been replaced by other, new and exciting activities?

Are they not even interested in hearing something different? Don't they want to know what the rest of the world thinks? When I hear or see something that I've never heard of before, or that might go against every grain in my being, like hunting wild animals for sport, I am actually extremely excited to hear what that person has to say about it. First of all, it's a learning curve and, secondly, it often gives a fresh perspective on the subject.

Even though hunting wild animals hurts my soul, I've come to understand, through listening to another's opinion, that it is often a necessary part of life in the modern world we live in. Progress and destruction of wild habitats has made it necessary to keep wild animals camped off in dedicated pieces of land and, once the population exceeds what the land can carry, culling often becomes necessary. And for many sports hunters, these are now the only hunting options still available, organized and managed.

In a recent blog post on one of my Afrikaans blogs, I complained about the fact that Googling certain words in Afrikaans, like 'inspiration', 'abundance' and 'universe' only led to pages and pages of bible verses and bible quotes. Nothing inspirational, so unimaginative, have Afrikaners got nothing to write about except religion? (Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Afrikaners, I am Afrikaans myself!)

Now, I've been posting beautiful, positive thoughts on that blog for years, never really airing much of my closest thoughts, and the immediate response from one reader was that I was attacking (her) religion, that I had now climbed out of my box and veered off in a wrong direction. Why do some people constantly feel the need to protect their opinion, their religion, as if somebody is going to steal it away from them? Nobody can steal anything from you unless you allow it. Nobody can change your opinion unless you have a change of heart.

I still don't agree with hunting, but I do understand the other point of view. I don't agree with people feeling threatened and fearful when their point of view is challenged, but I do understand their small-mindedness. For many people it is the only choice in order that they may feel safe.

Hats off to all those wonderful people in the world who are tolerant, non-judgemental and open-minded, truly free souls! You ARE everything!

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