dharma explorer
Posts: 201
(11/2/01 6:42 pm) Reply
That is the question...
Here's a quote from Alfreda L in the "Nous News" topic. I thought it more than worthy of having its own topic.
"Many lives are drained waiting for luck to do ones chores. I've often thought that the Hamlet soliloquy was not meant to express the question of life or death, but was meant to reflect the insecurities one may feel as they persue their dreams: "To 'become' or not to 'become' - that is the question...""
How wonderfully and succinctly put!
I share your view of Hamlet's meaning. Any undertaking with an almost assured ending is hardly worthy of being called a dream. It's the daring to strive for what seems impossible, against staggering odds, that makes life worth living.
I have vowed to always attempt to "BE". "Not to be" isn't even an option.
I am deeply touched by your kind words, Mr. Manniac. The key to courage is fear, we seem to agree; one cannot have courage without being afraid - and we cannot lead without being alone.
Re: That is the question...
RE "one cannot have courage without being afraid - and we cannot lead without being alone": I have to agree with the first half of this statement, but have to take exception to the second half. To lead requires that the leader be INDIVIDUAL but also requires that the leader be PART OF A LARGER WHOLE.
A leader with no followers is not a leader.
A teacher with no students teaches nobody.
The wisdom of a wise man with no disciples dies with him.
A group of followers with no leader has no direction.
A collection of students with no teacher gains no new knowledge.
A seeker of truth (read "wisdom") with no guide finds little.
Combine the Leader (having vision and goal) with CHARISMA and worldwide movements start.
Combine the Teacher (having Knowledge) with THE ABILITY TO SHOW that knowledge to others and there is little that can remain hidden.
Combine the Wise Man (knowing WHY) with pragmatisism and time and the power of Philosophy can overcome hatred and fear.
You've both phrased this beautifully. I too was struck by the clarity of the idea "waiting for luck to do one's chores". Thanks to manniac for giving it a space in which it could be mused upon.
I'm the first to admit that I've been guilty of this for sometime. Oftentimes, one makes decisions which redirect creative and life energy towards...erm, channels which spare one the fear of actually persuing what one knows is one's path or dream.
This "redirection" can take many forms...and by no means am I saying that any of those forms are "bad". It's just that the longer they are persued to the exclusion of what one knows in one's heart one *should* be doing, the more energy they steal.
For me, perhaps the most effective avoidance came by way of moving constantly...most of the time from state to state. The "oh, if only I lived here, the apartment would be bigger and I could work, the galleries would be more plentiful, the city would be less exhausting" etc. Each move took a year to recover from...and then I would move again.
I raised my head after three years and realized how much time I had needlessly and recklessly wasted.
At some point, the "if onlys" show themselves for what they are: fear. I try to catch myself every time an "if only" pops into my head. It is the expression most likely to indicate that I am not taking responsibility for what IS possible.
I think in some respect, this is also part of growing up. I watched both my own behavior and that of others as they graduated from college and expected that the world would come and break down their door to save the brilliant, educated, hard working creatures that they were from the horrors of waitressing or temping where all their talents were "wasted".
Sadly, "the world" isn't all that interested in the fate of Ph. D. in literature who is awaiting rescue while clerking at the bank. There's only one way out of that situation...and it lies in oneself.
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