Society and Responsibility + Daily Runes

The roles we play

Everything in this world has a raison d'etre, every building, tree, rock, bird, cloud, pool, mountain, star and planet is where it is and does what it does because it is meant to be. As far as we can verify, we're the only creatures on earth and the only entities in the observable Universe that resist this, that have opinions about the ways of life, about our experiences and the actions of others. These opinions cloud observation and create biases that prevent us from seeing what's actually happening. Many weeks ago I discussed a bit about Maya, the Great Illusion in which we, as souls bound to the Wheel of Samsara and this physical existence, are immersed. This Illusion is strengthened and affirmed when we believe in its reality, and this is where opinions become obstacles, because we too have a place in Creation, whether we like it or not. Accepting this place and occupying it with joy diminishes Maya.

There's also another aspect of this: Society and all its rules also fulfill a purpose. We may not like social conventions and it's true that stigmas and categorizations must be dismantled, but as long as they're in place, resisting or disregarding them will always restrict our capacity to navigate our world, accepting them and abiding by them as far as our personal principles allow is a question of practicality. For instance, we may not like taxes, but they technically support our way of life and are compulsory by law, there are penalties if we fail to pay them. What's truly the gain in evading them, or complaining about them? Might as well just accept them and pay... if we want to live like everybody else, that is, which isn't always the case. Perhaps you don't believe in the Church, or Buddha, or the Constitution, but others do and it's part of the world. What's the point in raging about them? The same applies to all other parts of the system.

I never finished high school and therefore, I have no university degree nor any interest in getting one. As a result I could never access the broader job market and never experienced a graduation, something almost every person I know has had. For years I fretted about it, worrying that I could never amount to anything without certified academic studies, but then I realized that I still gained the respect of people from all sorts of backgrounds and social standings, that I could speak with them as a peer and that they even assumed my career. Once I started working, I've never truly stopped and the opportunities keep getting better and better. I knew there were consequences for my resistance to the education system and I had to accept them; once I did, they stopped being relevant and what's more, I've obtained increasing freedom. The regular path wasn't for me, my purpose required a different approach.

But I've also felt the sting of being an outcast and I don't care for it, so there are many other rules that I've learned to abide by, even if I didn't necessarily agree with them at first. My country has lost all form of institutionality and proper functioning, the State is a complete failure, so the only way we can and have managed to survive the onslaught is by sticking to certain basic rules of cohabitation and community that have included, even if only at an unconscious level, the acceptance of the crisis and the regime. That's something we've all had to integrate, and those who were unable to at some point, had to integrate something else in another country. It's just what it is.

What matters here is that, whatever guidelines and mandates we choose to live by, the world around us and every person, animal and place in it, have their own. Interrupting that flow increases noise, conflict and thus, suffering. Letting it run its course is the way of peace and ease. This necessarily demands that we study the stories we're living in search for that single thread that represents our role and mission, that we get rid of preconceptions and judgements so that we can accommodate to the environment and therefore, let it provide for our needs as it is meant to do.

Night Rune: Uruz

I am an entity that connects nodes that cannot connected with each other. I take the shape of a warrior that protects those who cross portals.

Daylight message: Tiwaz

Authority, stature. Study your words and actions, choose them carefully, others see you as a guide and will imitate what you do and say. Take care also of the emotions you imprint on your space and objects, the energy you transmit. Protocols, although you may find them foolish, fulfill a purpose and must be respected. Your power compels you, act with coherence, extricate routines that hinder your behavior. Etiquette and manners open many doors. There is a motive for everything, all things have antecedents and consequences, do not fabricate stories with opinions, see what is. That which can be named or described is a mirage, the Truth cannot be defined. The nature of the Wolf and the Tiger is to hunt; the Snake and the Worm slither; the Mosquito drinks blood. Who are you to pass judgement on Creation?