The extent of my ignorance is so vast, it could fill the cosmos.
Same for you. (Sorry to break it to you.)
Anyone who pretends they know what's going on in the big scheme of things is just making it up… which is fine, I suppose, so long as you know that.
Make your own mind up – life doesn't come pre-packaged with meaning. Life means what we want it to mean.
🤷🏻♂️
You've caught me in a funny mood today and I feel compelled to remind you that we are all ants, crawling around on a ball of rock, hurtling through the infinite void of space at an insane speed.
It's bonkers.
We don't know what's going on. Which is why I think it's important (and fun!) to stay open-minded, in our quest for fulfilment during our short stay here as these ghosts in meat suits.
So I'll go out of my way to watch, listen to and read things that ‘I’ (i.e. the Giles Ego Construct 📦) don't really understand or necessarily agree with. I will then weigh it up against my own experience (which is all we get) and see if there's anything to be taken from it.
Maybe the Daily Reminders are a bit like that for you!
😁
Let me take you on a trip
Anyway, this is how I came to read something about a Professor of Philosophy & Religious Studies, who—in his own quest to understand the nature of things—underwent a staggering 73 (!!) high dose LSD sessions over a 20 year period, meticulously documenting what he learned, along the way.
😵💫
It's easy to just throw accounts like these out the window (“Who would do that?! Are they crazy?!” asks the mind), but it's specifically because my mind reacts in such a way to these things, that I'll read on, out of curiosity.
Reassuringly, he himself thinks it's a daft thing to do, doesn't recommend people try anything even remotely similar, merely suggesting we all read more to widen our horizons, instead.
His one paragraph conclusion from all of this inner exploration is below, and if you want to read the article I read, which goes into a bit more detail, it's linked here.
When I first read that, I couldn't help but draw parallels with Syd Banks' own description of ‘The Experience’ he had in the 1970's that is the whole reason I'm writing this now. No separation… light… oneness… intelligent energy of life…
Make of that what you will.
And what I took away from all this talk of reincarnation and a “deep logic and significance to the circumstances of our lives” was a real feeling of peace.
My first instinct was to reply with the following tweet:
This sucks… 😖
Oh, hang on, I remembered (again)… it's supposed to!! 😮
This is what I'm here for! 😍
Live. Die. Repeat.
I'm reminded of the criminally underrated and eminently re-watchable Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt movie, Edge of Tomorrow, where he gets slain repeatedly, in order to learn, evolve and ultimately achieve his purpose.
So when I'm struggling against something that feels really unfair—like life's out to get me—the idea that I'm supposed to be facing these particular challenges in order to evolve humanity as a whole… well I find that strangely comforting.
In fact it usually slows me down to the degree that I relax out of whatever fretful thinking is causing me unease in that moment, and am able to see the next step; the way forward.
A Howard Jones lyric floats to the surface…
“So what is the answer?
Be easy on yourself
Make your self feel at ease
Maybe that's the answer.”
💟
Giles