Oh my... how to make a choice?
OH MY… HOW TO MAKE CHOICES?
Well, don’t.
Society has been throwing ‘opportunities’ at us like crazy. From what people tell me, I’m surprised by the way you had to make choices back in the day. It took so much time and effort to build a profession, you had to!
Imagine becoming a filmmaker 50 years ago. You really needed the time to gain experience from someone in your environment. Then you had to work your way up to even be able to work with enormous and expensive cameras. No way that you would just switch to something else after all the work and effort you put in.
Now-a-days, well… What can’t you do?
Everybody has Hollywood gear in their pockets. At least, 5 billion people at this moment. You want to learn to code? There’s a free f*cking algorithm that’s going to help you. You want to learn about construction? Try YouTube, my friend!
The opportunities are insane at the moment.
That’s cool, but also quite overwhelming. I see a lot of people my age struggle to make a choice. Every experience you engage in feels like you’re slurping away time from other activities. How can you possibly stay focused and build a future you actually like?
Well, my advice: don’t stay focused!
At least, not when you have to force yourself badly.
I noticed in my own life that all the learning of my skills took a lot of time. More than I would imagine. More than I would like. I make videos, for example, but still haven’t reached the point I like. That was because I wasn’t ‘focused’. I also wanted to organise events. I wanted to write spoken word. I wanted to make music. Learn 3D modelling. Write a book. Research the topic of black holes. Find out what makes good coffee. Find out what makes great coffee. Absorb everything Alan Watts. Try drugs. Meditate. Give away all my stuff. Live without a home consciously. Cycle to Turkey. Get back into filmmaking. Et cetera. Et cetera.
Of course, we all have different hobbies and interests, but sometimes I fear the chaos one can create. Sometimes my whole self-worth just crashes, and it feels like I’m not capable of doing anything. I just tried a bunch.
Then, after all these years, I finally came to the conclusion that the chaos created order. All the experiences gained came together. You start to see patterns.
By freestyling you will realize which themes and topics come back more often. In there, you’re able to find a certain core. You can find out what you are. Kind of are.
Follow the TAO
This realization got even more body after reading the ‘Tao te Ching’. The book by Lao Tzu, who remains the founder of Taoism. Now, hear me out. Don’t immediately psych out on the spiritual shit that’s about to come.
Lao Tzu constantly talks about ‘the way’. This is his word for the natural harmony of things. Everything in the universe has a certain path laid out for you. You just have to follow it. You should dig deep. Find that inner voice. Listen to it carefully. Or, maybe not listen, but feel it.
There’s a lot more to be said, but that’s for another time.
The principle Lao Tzu is selling us can easily be translated into: ‘following your intuition’, or ‘listening to God’. In the end everybody’s been trying to say the same thing. Now, you might think it’s bullshit. You might think that people need to think practical and follow common sense, ‘logic’. But, Logic is nothing more than just a great rapper, I would suggest.
Let’s realize that we’re all the product of human conditioning. Everything that seems logical doesn’t exist. It’s just words we created to order the chaos. Nothing wrong with it, but don’t get too attached.
In the end, we all need to do what we need to do. So, breathe. Eat some food. Have sex. Think about your next adventure. Don’t get too attached to logic, or even words.
This year I decided to put more trust on my intuition.
And, that's what I will do. This can still mean working your ass off. It just means that I don’t try to be so dependent on the outcome. Everyday I'm a new me with a new desire. Just don't think and act.
Who are you today?
Let me finish with an Andy Warhol quote: