Everyday Musings > Good, Evil and the Greys

Any battle where there are two sides - good and evil - is an easy one. Which is possibly why Religion and Fairytales are often a sanctuary for many. They seem to offer a choice of either-or premises where one is marked 'Good' and the other 'Evil'. And one needs to pick a side, preferably the Good one. It's peaceful, simple and the blanket tag absolves us of relative thought. It's a sorted life.

In a world of no clear definitions, where we do not have a simplified for-and-against in our daily lives, culpability is never absolute. There are the teeming Greys we need to account for and that requires deeper thought. Every decision then is a study of context and actions are relative. One definition will not fit all. It can be frustrating.

Those who fight a Good and Evil battle are playing an easy but dangerous game - Corporations (evil) - Common man (good), Politicians (evil) - Common man (good), Synthetic (evil) - Organic (good), Respect (good) - Irreverence (bad), Patriotism (good) - Criticism (bad), Participation (good) - choosing to not be part of the popular sentiment (bad); it is one that seems to offer power, confidence and clarity, but in reality encourages injustice, prejudice and herd-like collective thought.

When one delves deeper into Religion or looks into the symbolism in Fairytales, things are not sorted - there are more questions than answers - it is an unending quest. Good vs Evil was a simplification, a placebo for life. The game of the Greys requires constant weighing - to look beyond and identify the source of issues, to deal with them as individuals instead of as an collective, to question popular sentiment and apply deliberate judgement with each incoming issue.

Does that mean that this is the Good way and that was Bad? No. It simply means we have more choices than we think we do.

Everyday Musings > The Immortals

Read a quote by Mik Everett that said "If a writer falls in love with you, you will never die."

I feel it is true of all believers and lovers - be they artists, priests or fans.

To love or believe in something is to prolong its life by attaching the life of the person who loves/believes.

If it is carved into stone or made into a monument, then it takes on the life of the material the lover/believer breathed it into. Or till a non-lover/believer takes it down.

The Gods that stay on are the ones that have lovers/believers who have lasted and passed on their beliefs. Mona Lisa lives on because Da Vinci chose to paint her and make her important. Osho, Rilke, Che, Gibran, Thoreau, Gandhi – each has had their believer/lover that accorded them a state of everlasting life by giving them their own lives to live in.

We make things important when we attach ourselves to them. Successful brands understand this well. And seek to create attachment by creating desire and connection. Those who wish for eternal life need only to make an impression on things that will live on beyond and long after them – make others believe in/love them. Though once adopted, the nature of the subject or object that is loved or believed in takes on the impressions of the one that loves and believes in it. Is it then, the original, or a regurgitation of the original - a Chinese whisper that may, over time, not even resemble what it originated from.

We are all capable of receiving this gift of immortality - only we will not be around to see if it eventually turns out to be blessing or a curse.