It is widely accepted that life is hard. My sister was not the only one whose favorite
saying was “Life sucks and then you die.”
The whole notion of a joyful existence comes off as a frivolous idea –
cool if you are lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth or if
you are one of those perpetually optimistic people; but not realistic.
To write here that joy is or ought to be your focus sounds
nice but a bit naive. Rather, it would
seem more efficient and helpful to focus on abundance, health or even free
energy. Joy may result if those things
are in place, but it is not the priority.
You cannot isolate emotion from action. How you approach what it is you are doing
will affect the outcome for you. You
desire sustainable happiness. How does
that occur? Why is it, that once
children reach puberty, they begin to “get serious” about life and lose the
“innocent” enthusiasm that comes at birth?
What can we do to get that back?
The “harsh reality” of life does not have to be taught – it
is something that was given to us here, to hold us back, restrict our
movements, limit our expansion and minimize our power. The “work ethic” was invented by the beings
who started the experiment here. Once it
was bred into you that you were only as valuable as the work you produced,
their goal was easily achieved.
We’ve spoken of this before, and yet the culture of slavery
runs so deeply into our society, it sits there as a constant source of
angst. To do, every day, for most of
your life, something for just one purpose – to “earn a living” (as if that was even possible), is an
idea that dulls the senses and inhibits the imagination. It is not truth. All beings everywhere do not live like
this. Humans do.
To change an idea which is a basic tenet of society, is a
challenge that cannot be accomplished with conversation. It must be felt as a result of systemic
change.
In other words, to remove the “work ethic” we must first
remove the necessity for money. This
elephant story is a good illustration:
Before leaving each evening,
the trainer tethers the elephant with a chain.
One day the trainer forgets and upon returning the next morning,
discovers the elephant has wrapped the chain around her own leg!
She does this (the elephant) because this is the only way
she knows how to live without the trainer. Show her what can happen when she is
on her own, without the chain; then remove it, and watch what happens.
What can we do to alter our dependence on money? Our life is structured in a way that allows
freedom in increments as a direct relation to how much cash you have. The cash in hand came from the labor of
someone. This world is set up in such a
way that freedom for one demands freedom for all. We are ONE.
If just a part of the population is enslaved, the slavery exists.
So, what is necessary for life? Sustenance, a home,
clothing, transportation, wellness; these things are part of physical
existence. They cost money right
now. If you were given the choice
between freedom and the possibility of unlimited wealth – which would you
choose?
There is an idea amongst us that says we can’t have both;
that freedom necessitates uniformity – there is only so much “stuff” and if we
disable the current system, we all would get the same allotment of clothing, living
quarters and food. That mass production
will be necessary and we’ll be free, but without much individual difference in
our lives, in fact, without much “stuff” in our lives.
Even that idea has its origin in slavery and a desire to
keep slavery going. The carrot at the
end of the stick is always held there – just beyond reach. It is what pushes you to work harder, the possibility of MORE.
If we decide that it is not more that we want, but enough,
without toil; along with the opportunity for creative expression and unlimited
expansion, we may turn the “work ethic” around into something else - something
equally sustainable; that includes the probability for joy. We are brilliantly, magically, powerfully
human; here to create a new way to be.
Nothing is beyond us.
~Sophia
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