A notion exists as the idea that I am something, can be something, or that through seeking something, something else entirely may become. This is somehow obfuscated in the rationale we employ when thinking outside of the box when either, wanting to believe in something, or no longer wanting to. Where hypocrisy is concerned in relation to the mentioned, we want to rise above any notion that is perceived as beneath us and we do so with great desire and force of will. Yet, I must wonder if that is enough for that something else to become.
Long ago I moved away from folklore and costumes. As most adults, I too have come to understand things in my own way, applied my experience and schooling to those things, and came up with a view and understanding of those things that is unique to me. Is that bad? Why am I not a hypocrite when it comes to costumes?
In my culture, I was born to Puertorrican parents, it is typical to give a kiss and hug, to a person when they are family, a friend, or a mixture of the two. Greetings basically extend beyond a handshake to putting your face against that of another and mimic the kissing sound. Generally this is done whether you care about the person or not, you just go along with the costume and hypocritically convey the motions of public standards upon this person whom in any other circumstance you would probably avoid.
I don’t do that. I just happened to have developed some social fears which completely usurped my ability to create a fantasy where one shouldn’t exist. I don’t know, call me crazy, but if I don’t like someone I tell them in the best way possible -usually in extreme fashion or rather very straight forward- and generally that is more than enough to have a person stop talking to me, because who enjoys the truth on their face when they too are the subject of avoidance of said truth merely because no one is brave enough to speak of it in the person’s face; the public generally has no issues going behind people’s back and smearing their names and persona all over the proverbial moron they really believe the person to be, that is to say, as long as it is done without the person’s knowledge.
This has gotten me in quite a bit of trouble over the years. I mean, I don’t believe people are morons, or even ignorant, however unenlightened they may appear to be, because of my beliefs. I have a simple rule: do not judge, no matter what. There are a number of factors which are beyond our reach -to any and all of us- when we look at another person. Starting from the present and going backwards, the kind of mood they are presently in, what health issues they may be undergoing, therapy -whether physical or mental-, the good or bad day they’ve had, family or friend issues they are immediately involved in/with, whether the week’s goals have been accomplished or not, if the month has gone as planned, how much school they have attended and what accolades they have earned, their personal take on an event or thing that may be happening, and so on and so much more. Due to all those unknowns it would be inappropriate and borderline irresponsible to call a person ignorant merely because they believe something you don’t. Yet, that being the case, those who opt to call others or judge others as ignorant end up in a very interesting loop where both parties say the same about the other; after all you think you know this and that, but you cannot see eye-to-eye with the other person who also knows what they know.
Another costume is to ask family members for a blessing upon first contact with them and before leaving their presence, not in question form, but in a statement. It is done as such because the costume is so inherent/ingrained that it is expected rather than sought. This, sadly, takes me to religion. I am agnostic, more towards atheist, but not my immediate family. Mom and dad, like theirs before them, are Catholic. The Roman Catholic type that goes to church not because it is the right thing to do, not because they are good people, not because they carry the word of their god in their hearts, and certainly not because they follow the teachings and exercise it in their day-to-day lives, but merely because it is tradition and thus expected. I however, don’t believe in much or any of that. I understand that people err, I think heavily on how we wish we were a bit more perfect and could somehow avoid all the issue of living which is making those mistakes, and ultimately understand the need to blame someone else for issues which you are not yet, or may never be ready to accept as being your own. I get it, mostly because through personal experience I have done the same in many of those situations myself. Yet, I opted to leave hypocrisy behind and apply what I learned to lead the best life all those teachings brought about. Does that mean I have fashioned my own beliefs, systems, and even costumes? Not necessarily.
A good human, arguably, is someone who is able to see uncertainty in front of them, take that uncertainty and ponder on it, look for more information about it, seek out gurus on the subjects and get taught by its teachers, and then make an informed decision on how to most appropriately view that uncertainty. Does that mean the person will make a good choice or in fact be or become a good human? No, not really. Like me, a sufferer of depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, someone who has seen and heard hallucinations, someone who has been a part of those Catholic movements and groups and have gone the extra mile and done some strenuous walks with the groups as well as other very taxing rituals, someone whose wife miscarried several times, someone who was declined entrance to the United States Marine Corps several times yet served in the Army for 4 years in 2 wars, someone married 20 years with a teenage son, someone who leaves their house no more than 30 times a years and most are for doctor appointments... but like I was about to mention, like me there are many with their own problems and past, with their own tough decisions to make. Some whom are single parents with ample responsibilities and find time to be involved in many different affairs, many whose lives are looked upon and talked about as being perfectly normal, or even above average, those unlucky enough to have witnessed an event and now lead different lives through repatriation or being elsewhere, and so many others who find the notion of being a good human something somewhat surreal.
We are legion, in the sense that those of us who suffer the faculty that is living through our inept or limited understanding of other things and could almost never reach the pinnacle of anything… yes our numbers are vast. Just to throw a number at the circumstance, there are roughly 7.7 billion humans on Earth (and I make the distinction expecting that in a few decades there may be some on the Moon, Mars, and perhaps elsewhere) of whom about 30% play a video game of sorts, whether the games are accessed on a desktop computer, console, mobile device, tablet, laptop, cloud, or other electronic device. The notion that almost 50% of the world is involved with the sport of soccer be it through personal taste, have played the game, know friends or family that play, or just enjoy the pastime of watching a good game is also quite a statement. We are similar in many other ways too, we want the best for our respective families, our search to better ourselves is seemingly endless, we gravitate more towards others whose ideas mirror our own, and so on. We are nations/legion of individuals seeking an unknown, together, the fact that the unknown itself varies is seemingly inconsequential when we understand that we all seek it.
Yet, whether similar, different, or individual we seem to all have a hand in hypocrisy. If you believe that hypocrisy is saying, doing, mimicking, or thinking of something that you don’t believe in for the purpose of doing it well, then you fall in line with the rest of us who practice it daily. I don’t mean to open my eyes in the morning any more than I plan how long the next breath I take will be, nor the rhythm to which my heart palpitations will go today; perhaps to a waltz, or rap depending on your likings. I certainly do not mean to believe that I am right or have better footing on a subject than someone else, especially if I don’t know that person. Yet, after first hearing a rendition of an idea we almost immediately fall on one side of it, the you believe it or not sides of it, and of course the more complex the item the more sides it can possibly have, thus further dividing the belief and its supporters into subset after subset.
Why then do I believe not to be a hypocrite? I kiss and hug my sister, as culture demands, because I love her. On the other hand, out of respect and not personal choice, I do the same were I to see my father. I respect the man very much like I respect others whose views I cannot tolerate. Yet, I fail to remove myself from hypocrisy’s vile intent, because the river of turbulence that may be summoned were I to follow instinct and desire over cultural expectations would be almost impossible to traverse. I am no better than the person, whom like I, chooses the hypocrite way of going about something in order to avoid the unknown. It seems like an inherent means which is deployed upon contact with a situation whose impact will be so incredible and yet incomprehensible, that nature takes over, and like a heartbeat, deploys the modus operandi that will best steer us through incoming rapids without our knowledge or consent. This is, I infer/posit a defense mechanism more than it is the fallacy of humanity to be unique and form their own opinion and life outside of the herd that is culture.
Thus, as shown I am as fallible as the sheep that goes to the river for a drink not knowing of the rise of the same, a current whose force impending comes to disrupt matters in seconds, leaving nothing but dismay and questions behind. It appears that despite cultural uprooting, the natural divergence between progeny and parent can be detrimental for the progression of the self where the wrong stimulation perpetuates cultural norms that perhaps ought to be evolving with the natural flow of world/surrounding events. The belief that we are different merely because we have applied some fact to our ideas does not seem like enough of a leap into a new reality bereft of the things we imply have been left behind, yet can never be replaced or removed. Whether the matter is religion, a cultural belief, folklore, or otherwise it appears that a closer examination of the self may reveal some truths that are lurking behind false beliefs we concoct in order to feel safe in the environment we reside in. When confronted by the many realities that are being alive, aging, and everything that brings, we realize that not only are we closer to those beliefs that we attempt to usurp than we imagined, but that we have inadvertently used them as part of the model or canon which we follow in our new-modeled lives. The matter that is nature versus nurture in an environment where we seek betterment seems to be trumped by nature when matters are trivial but highly valued by us for personal reasons. It seems that while I attempt to escape hypocrisy through the reworking of ideas, thoughts, and teachings, it all somehow permeates in the background to all those things. As much as I want to believe that I am in control, I is not just the me who writes, the me who thinks, or the me who acts, but the me inside, the me whose actions are driven by everything and not just beliefs or wants. Then, the something else that prevails is the one that has always existed, but has somehow grown to some extent into something we end of calling our own, however much it is filled with things beyond our wants, needs, or desires. The hypocrisy of it all is believing that I am not a hypocrite.
Long ago I moved away from folklore and costumes. As most adults, I too have come to understand things in my own way, applied my experience and schooling to those things, and came up with a view and understanding of those things that is unique to me. Is that bad? Why am I not a hypocrite when it comes to costumes?
In my culture, I was born to Puertorrican parents, it is typical to give a kiss and hug, to a person when they are family, a friend, or a mixture of the two. Greetings basically extend beyond a handshake to putting your face against that of another and mimic the kissing sound. Generally this is done whether you care about the person or not, you just go along with the costume and hypocritically convey the motions of public standards upon this person whom in any other circumstance you would probably avoid.
I don’t do that. I just happened to have developed some social fears which completely usurped my ability to create a fantasy where one shouldn’t exist. I don’t know, call me crazy, but if I don’t like someone I tell them in the best way possible -usually in extreme fashion or rather very straight forward- and generally that is more than enough to have a person stop talking to me, because who enjoys the truth on their face when they too are the subject of avoidance of said truth merely because no one is brave enough to speak of it in the person’s face; the public generally has no issues going behind people’s back and smearing their names and persona all over the proverbial moron they really believe the person to be, that is to say, as long as it is done without the person’s knowledge.
This has gotten me in quite a bit of trouble over the years. I mean, I don’t believe people are morons, or even ignorant, however unenlightened they may appear to be, because of my beliefs. I have a simple rule: do not judge, no matter what. There are a number of factors which are beyond our reach -to any and all of us- when we look at another person. Starting from the present and going backwards, the kind of mood they are presently in, what health issues they may be undergoing, therapy -whether physical or mental-, the good or bad day they’ve had, family or friend issues they are immediately involved in/with, whether the week’s goals have been accomplished or not, if the month has gone as planned, how much school they have attended and what accolades they have earned, their personal take on an event or thing that may be happening, and so on and so much more. Due to all those unknowns it would be inappropriate and borderline irresponsible to call a person ignorant merely because they believe something you don’t. Yet, that being the case, those who opt to call others or judge others as ignorant end up in a very interesting loop where both parties say the same about the other; after all you think you know this and that, but you cannot see eye-to-eye with the other person who also knows what they know.
Another costume is to ask family members for a blessing upon first contact with them and before leaving their presence, not in question form, but in a statement. It is done as such because the costume is so inherent/ingrained that it is expected rather than sought. This, sadly, takes me to religion. I am agnostic, more towards atheist, but not my immediate family. Mom and dad, like theirs before them, are Catholic. The Roman Catholic type that goes to church not because it is the right thing to do, not because they are good people, not because they carry the word of their god in their hearts, and certainly not because they follow the teachings and exercise it in their day-to-day lives, but merely because it is tradition and thus expected. I however, don’t believe in much or any of that. I understand that people err, I think heavily on how we wish we were a bit more perfect and could somehow avoid all the issue of living which is making those mistakes, and ultimately understand the need to blame someone else for issues which you are not yet, or may never be ready to accept as being your own. I get it, mostly because through personal experience I have done the same in many of those situations myself. Yet, I opted to leave hypocrisy behind and apply what I learned to lead the best life all those teachings brought about. Does that mean I have fashioned my own beliefs, systems, and even costumes? Not necessarily.
A good human, arguably, is someone who is able to see uncertainty in front of them, take that uncertainty and ponder on it, look for more information about it, seek out gurus on the subjects and get taught by its teachers, and then make an informed decision on how to most appropriately view that uncertainty. Does that mean the person will make a good choice or in fact be or become a good human? No, not really. Like me, a sufferer of depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, someone who has seen and heard hallucinations, someone who has been a part of those Catholic movements and groups and have gone the extra mile and done some strenuous walks with the groups as well as other very taxing rituals, someone whose wife miscarried several times, someone who was declined entrance to the United States Marine Corps several times yet served in the Army for 4 years in 2 wars, someone married 20 years with a teenage son, someone who leaves their house no more than 30 times a years and most are for doctor appointments... but like I was about to mention, like me there are many with their own problems and past, with their own tough decisions to make. Some whom are single parents with ample responsibilities and find time to be involved in many different affairs, many whose lives are looked upon and talked about as being perfectly normal, or even above average, those unlucky enough to have witnessed an event and now lead different lives through repatriation or being elsewhere, and so many others who find the notion of being a good human something somewhat surreal.
We are legion, in the sense that those of us who suffer the faculty that is living through our inept or limited understanding of other things and could almost never reach the pinnacle of anything… yes our numbers are vast. Just to throw a number at the circumstance, there are roughly 7.7 billion humans on Earth (and I make the distinction expecting that in a few decades there may be some on the Moon, Mars, and perhaps elsewhere) of whom about 30% play a video game of sorts, whether the games are accessed on a desktop computer, console, mobile device, tablet, laptop, cloud, or other electronic device. The notion that almost 50% of the world is involved with the sport of soccer be it through personal taste, have played the game, know friends or family that play, or just enjoy the pastime of watching a good game is also quite a statement. We are similar in many other ways too, we want the best for our respective families, our search to better ourselves is seemingly endless, we gravitate more towards others whose ideas mirror our own, and so on. We are nations/legion of individuals seeking an unknown, together, the fact that the unknown itself varies is seemingly inconsequential when we understand that we all seek it.
Yet, whether similar, different, or individual we seem to all have a hand in hypocrisy. If you believe that hypocrisy is saying, doing, mimicking, or thinking of something that you don’t believe in for the purpose of doing it well, then you fall in line with the rest of us who practice it daily. I don’t mean to open my eyes in the morning any more than I plan how long the next breath I take will be, nor the rhythm to which my heart palpitations will go today; perhaps to a waltz, or rap depending on your likings. I certainly do not mean to believe that I am right or have better footing on a subject than someone else, especially if I don’t know that person. Yet, after first hearing a rendition of an idea we almost immediately fall on one side of it, the you believe it or not sides of it, and of course the more complex the item the more sides it can possibly have, thus further dividing the belief and its supporters into subset after subset.
Why then do I believe not to be a hypocrite? I kiss and hug my sister, as culture demands, because I love her. On the other hand, out of respect and not personal choice, I do the same were I to see my father. I respect the man very much like I respect others whose views I cannot tolerate. Yet, I fail to remove myself from hypocrisy’s vile intent, because the river of turbulence that may be summoned were I to follow instinct and desire over cultural expectations would be almost impossible to traverse. I am no better than the person, whom like I, chooses the hypocrite way of going about something in order to avoid the unknown. It seems like an inherent means which is deployed upon contact with a situation whose impact will be so incredible and yet incomprehensible, that nature takes over, and like a heartbeat, deploys the modus operandi that will best steer us through incoming rapids without our knowledge or consent. This is, I infer/posit a defense mechanism more than it is the fallacy of humanity to be unique and form their own opinion and life outside of the herd that is culture.
Thus, as shown I am as fallible as the sheep that goes to the river for a drink not knowing of the rise of the same, a current whose force impending comes to disrupt matters in seconds, leaving nothing but dismay and questions behind. It appears that despite cultural uprooting, the natural divergence between progeny and parent can be detrimental for the progression of the self where the wrong stimulation perpetuates cultural norms that perhaps ought to be evolving with the natural flow of world/surrounding events. The belief that we are different merely because we have applied some fact to our ideas does not seem like enough of a leap into a new reality bereft of the things we imply have been left behind, yet can never be replaced or removed. Whether the matter is religion, a cultural belief, folklore, or otherwise it appears that a closer examination of the self may reveal some truths that are lurking behind false beliefs we concoct in order to feel safe in the environment we reside in. When confronted by the many realities that are being alive, aging, and everything that brings, we realize that not only are we closer to those beliefs that we attempt to usurp than we imagined, but that we have inadvertently used them as part of the model or canon which we follow in our new-modeled lives. The matter that is nature versus nurture in an environment where we seek betterment seems to be trumped by nature when matters are trivial but highly valued by us for personal reasons. It seems that while I attempt to escape hypocrisy through the reworking of ideas, thoughts, and teachings, it all somehow permeates in the background to all those things. As much as I want to believe that I am in control, I is not just the me who writes, the me who thinks, or the me who acts, but the me inside, the me whose actions are driven by everything and not just beliefs or wants. Then, the something else that prevails is the one that has always existed, but has somehow grown to some extent into something we end of calling our own, however much it is filled with things beyond our wants, needs, or desires. The hypocrisy of it all is believing that I am not a hypocrite.
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