ACCEPTING WHAT IS

There is a flush of sophisticated philosophy, psychology and economics on streaming media lately. Good stuff generally. A pleasant evolution away from videos of fat people falling down and cats singing. I watch a fair share. My eyes begin to cross after a while. While I admire Jordan Peterson's ability to think and speak on the spot, for example, I do have to untangle some of his knots to get to the pith of his message. More often than not, he is saying, "Well, that's just the way it is."

I am a converted Utopian. My idealism was once my lifeline. I was a pacifist of draft age during the idiotic Vietnam War. I was a working-class savant who commuted to college at 16 with stunted emotional maturity and controlling orthodox parents. I was a tall and gawky young gay man with absolutely no hipster proclivities during Gay Liberation. I was an HIV-infected health care worker at the dawn of the epidemic. And so on. 

My idealism took some heavy hits. I lived my way to accepting Nitezche's genius about struggle and its educational power. 

I knew Nietzsche's work before I learned more about Zen Buddhism, but they have remarkable similarities. Both world views are often knocked by the sunshine brigades as darkly fatalistic. Perhaps a person can never feel at peace in the dark unless he experiences and survives all of its dangers. 

This is getting headier than I intended. I wanted to express my belief, founded in my own life experiment, that accepting life (being) for what it is anchors the inquisitive mind. That's too fluffy, I know. I am trying to explain that the first step to finding any substantial personal bedrock is getting to know who you are in relation to what is known about life and the Universe. This entails putting aside the wishes and fantasies of the idealistic mind. This entails putting aside the resentments and self-pity of the injured spirit. 

Seasoned real estate agents have a great retort which is relevant. If someone opines about a missed real estate opportunity, the hardened agent replies, "Would-a, should-a, could-a." Usually delivered in a mocking whine. Even if you cling to Utopian idealism, you'll never be able to start your journey there without first locating where you are standing right now. If you are always looking behind you with regret and resentment, there is no progress likely.

But it helps to know what is, as best we humans can know. This entails not-so-fun stuff. Quiet, sometimes boring, reading for hours and hours. Contemplation. Discussion with like minds and debate with opposing minds. Listening more than speaking. This isn't as much fun as smoking weed, dying your hair fuchsia and yelling some stuff at a designated object of mindless rage. 

The advantage of accepting what is mindful and intelligent behavior in the real world is that it makes the possessor of these qualities a better change agent. Living as an example of personal change in a positive direction shines and attracts. It cannot be faked. It must be earned. Accepting that basic truth is essential.