I’ll write this down because I might forget, and in the morning not be as profound. The pillars underlying everything, at least the point of view that shapes my world, are time, essence, identity, impermanence, and illusion. These five interconnected themes mean something when examined separately, but look quite different when viewed as a whole. Of course, they all fold into each other. Time, for example, is critical to the definition of essence, identity, impermanence, and illusion. Those things exist only in or outside of time. Likewise, all are illusions, made just slightly less ephemeral through the lens of identity, which is itself impermanent and without lasting essence. Who we are, or rather how we identify ourselves, is a trick of the light. We imagine ourselves as some primordial space dust come into being before the advent of time and destined to continue after the stars turn cold. But even that illusion does not last our entire lifetime. Lifetime: that’s another tricky word. It implies that the ticking clock is the primary means for measuring a quantity of life. It can be useful, indeed. But despite a deep, unrelenting desire to be of use, to be more than just a simple cog in a mindless machine, most folks, as Thoreau pointed out, lead lives of quiet desperation. They want time, essence, identity, and illusion. They just want them permanently, unchanging, and fixed in the heavens like stars to set your sails against. They are desperate because that ain’t gonna happen. They are quiet because to question the status quo, the societal norms, the will of the gods, is to further reinforce your impermanence. By the same token, considering your quality of life without including all five pillars will likewise lead to imbalance, inequity, injustice, and insignificance.
03 Aug 2025
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