an important quote

I was watching a quick TED talk today on living life for a resumé or for a eulogy. Towards the end of the talk, the speaker gave us this quote, from Reinhold Neibuhr in his 1952 book The Irony of American History.

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, could be accomplish alone; therefore, we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.

Sometimes we get swept up into trying to create every moment so that it is perfect, to write every relationship fit for a Hollywood premier, and to accomplish everything at once. But it's important to remember that a it is just one moment, one person, and every step on the road to accomplishment that should be cherished. Realize that it's the journey we're on -- the journey that we have been on -- that pushes us forward and teaches us new lessons about ourselves and the people around us. The past teaches us hope, faith, love, and forgiveness though trial and error of the journey that we are all on.

Doors

As human beings, how do we resolve the inherited intentions between wanting to full realize our complete potential -- as individuals who stand with dignity -- and also resist the omnipotent tug of conformity, which lays a fair bed for each of our lives? How do we avoid succumbing to a zombified trance state of blindly following others in a herd, as sheep, or as hamsters running in hamster wheels?

The way we resolve that, I think, is by taking that plunge. Answer that call for individuality. Realize that there is no map to our lives. We do not need a leader. Become aware that reality is just a word, and we are not supposed to use it without quotation marks around it. We are all free to create our own reality.

But this is only ascertainable when we are bold enough to decondition the thinking of the human collective. As that collective, we all see open or closed doors. That's not the problem to freeing ourselves from the bounds of conformity. The problem is that we see doors.

There seems to be this linguistic tunnel that is symbolic of the framework that constructs our reality; a matrix pulled in front of our eyes, blinding each of us from ecstatic visions of what might be behind those walls. We are only larvae that have not yet transcended to butterflies yet.

Nietzsche said that those who are seen dancing are called insane by those who cannot hear the music. Jack Kerouac says, "the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." At some point, to live, you have to separate yourself from the herd, without a leader. Stop seeing doors, and just walk.

- edits made 5/23/14 at