Finding a Voice

I seem to be coming down with something, a fever, a flu, I don't know yet but the last days I have been very tired and have even been sleeping more than usual. I don't like being sick and even though I am not the man flu type, I don't perform well. The worst part for me is not being able to think as clearly as I would like which slows me down in everything I do. I am not a big fan of downtime and when it is forced, I like it even less.

It is probably no surprise to people who read my work that I am not much of a fan of authority even if they are trying to improve the situation. In my opinion, it is better for individuals to learn via experimentation and mistakes than relying on someone or something to tell them how to act.

This is sometimes mistaken as me saying, don't listen to anyone which is not the case at all as I believe you should listen to almost everyone. But, I don't think you need to be influenced by everything you hear. It is possible to listen and consider without having to onboard the ideas.

Someone mentioned the other day when I said something about my wife deserving more than I can offer that they think it is not a good idea to be 'drowned in thoughts like that' which I find amusing. People are so worried about having negative thoughts that they try to avoid having them but, it is a losing battle. Thinking negatively is not drowning in the thoughts, it is considering various aspects of something from various perspectives.

In my opinion, those who may be drowning in their thoughts are the ones who are habitually fighting their thoughts and punishing themselves when they are unable to think the way they want to think. They keep going around in circles and because they are afraid to investigate some sides to avoid the emotions that may arise, they are unlikely to get off the loop.

This is the problem with listening to people and acting upon ideas without truly considering them deeply. We have been drummed with the idea that in order to be successful and feel good, we must think positively without considering that in order to solve some of our problems, we must explore the dark corners of who we are, face our fears, and this requires thought and reflection.

If we choose to ignore these thoughts because we fear getting engulfed by them, the problems that affect us are all the more likely to cause us pain and suffering but, we will have very little chance at being prepared or finding a solution.

The title of this post is Finding a Voice because in my opinion, to really find our path and our unique voice, we have to explore all parts of us in both the positive and the negative. If we choose to bow to authority and do as they say, we end up sounding like all others who bow to the same. What are the chances of finding one's own sound when all the words that come out are the heard words of others?

This is something that many people don't consider when they act on the 'get educated' concepts sold as the education that is pushed is nearly all an education sold en masse. Is it an education if everyone learns the same thing from a book or is it a brainwashing? Hard to tell without enough experience outside of that system.

In the last year, I have pulled heavily away from nearly all forms of media, news, social platform activity, magazines, shows and instead been writing. This wasn't just because if Steemit though, it actually has been building up well before as I found that all of the same repetitive themes were being pushed across all genres and, I was losing my ability to think laterally for myself.

Now that I spend the majority of my spare time writing, I have found that I am again the creative child I once was who is able to think about all kinds of things without limiting my thoughts on what is considered right or wrong. Some people seem to think that thinking negatively will somehow make them negative, immoral or somehow ethically compromised but in my experience, it has increased my awareness and improved my sense of community and drive for a more ethical future.

It is not that the thoughts that I have are any better than anyone else's I could have just read but, they are mine and I have been able to reach them through a processing and distillation of a whole range of experiences without having to be 'told' they are correct or not. This means that I am much more likely to adhere to the ethics and act on what supports my soft conclusions.

They are soft of course because things are always changing and very few rules can cover a lifetime without adjustment to the changing environments. The problem with listening to others without really creating the ideas ourselves is that as things change, we do not necessarily have the tools to change along with them and must again subscribe to the directions of others. Soon, this becomes a complete reliance and we are unable to critically think our way through the simplest of issues.

I don't think it is accidental that these types of processes are pushed upon us as in time, it makes us continually reliant on authorities and we reinforce their status by repeating their words to others. Where is our own voice in the crowded seas all chanting the same words?

Of course, maybe it is just a fever speaking through me. I don't like being ill but writing ill can sometime be an interesting experience as the compromised body affects the thoughts that arrive. Still, I will soon go to sleep and hopefully in the morning I will be back to my 'normal' self.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]