materially discontent
Feeling materially overwhelmed. Today I’m considering the people, ideas, systems, and unconscious beliefs we put our time and energy into. Our life force is energy, and consciousness is the aperture we perceive and manifest this reality through. Consciously or unconsciously, we use our focus, thought, and energy to surround ourselves with automated conveniences, luxury, and objects that come with the implied contract of a 40-hour work week away from our family, friends, tribe, nature and most importantly ourselves. Humans hold within a natural fire that compels us to learn and grow through exploration and challenge both within ourselves and externally in the world.
Expending our energy through the vector of materialism in effort to “get ahead” with the end goal of surrounding ourselves with so much convenience and luxury that we will not have to “work” anymore or experience discomfort is a spiritual hamster wheel that will leave one feeling denatured from our spirit with feelings of empty dissatisfaction. Those who perceive themselves deficient in material lament their empty cabinets and envy other’s experience of luxury while those with excess material feel the anxiety of maintaining the space for their possessions, insurance to protect their valuables, and enough income to continue their luxury.
The source of discontent first comes from not taking the time to know ourselves; not taking the time to master being ourselves, which is the start-point of unravelling our predicament. Once we know ourselves, we can have a chance at deciphering our path in this mysterious reality from which we don’t know whence we came or where we are going at the end of this experience. The path is elusive and masked by the illusions and machinations of empire that seek to waste your energy and diminish our spirit so that we have no willpower to contend or resist their progression for power and control. Empire preys upon your gravity toward capitol vice and will allow you to complicitly enslave yourself to their offerings.
How do we disembark the invisible hamster wheel of self-enslavement and empire? We must put in the work to know ourselves, decipher our path, and realize that luxury weakens our spirit. It is through selfless work for others, and earnest effort toward self-growth which will lead us to our path. We must then traverse our path with the realization that work and discomfort experienced together are the true fortune and glory of this realm. It is these treasures that will change the way we feel about ourselves and the reality we exist in. These treasures will relieve the lonely discontent, replacing them with satisfied relief in the company of those we love and respect for having walked the difficult path together.