WORLD VIEW ... ITS PERSONAL

The first thing I want to say is that I do not believe that anyone, past, present or in the future is anywhere near perfection. I will go even further to say that the concept of “perfection” cannot be meaningfully defined. I do not claim special insight or put myself up for any special comparison, I write these posts because it helps me clarify my thinking and challenges me to grow. I also like to hear what other think on the topic.

 

 I would also point out that I believe that how we see the world is very complicated and, for the most part, at a subconscious level. However we do have the ability to consciously acknowledge our views, beliefs and opinions by monitoring or behavior and the limitations we place on ourselves. The desire to modify them is also require, we don’t have to change anything. We always have choices, even when we deny them.

That said;

I believe that our spirituality grows with our efforts to see “the world” in a more accurate way. We all do this in different ways. “Holy people” do this by turning inward, meditation, prayer, efforts to communicate with what they believe to be god. Some prefer to understand the world through what we might call scientific terms, by finding measurable solutions to their questions. I prefer to use both; I benefit from a inner journey and satisfy my logical mind by finding understandable alternatives to thinking that has become restrictive to me.

For example, a few weekends ago a friend inadvertently reminded me that my attempts to see the world more accurately were in need of attention. Doyle gifted me with a handful of beautiful petrified sea shells. My focus that weekend was demonstrating the skill of knapping, making stone cutting tools. So the gift seemed to be more significant that it would have been at another time.

I digress at this point to explain a bit of technical information. The task of knapping, making stone cutting tools requires a silicon base mineral, typically quartz or obsidian. Well shell is made with carbonates and does not have the proper “fracture” needed to knap.

Back to the point, I took these petrified shells and remembered that about ten year ago I heard a story about people living on the ocean knapping shells. In hindsight this information may have been given to by Doyle. My beliefs at the time eliminated this possibility and I discarded the information and my knapping demonstrations suffered for my arrogance. 

I digress, again, to explain petrifaction. Usually when materials become petrified they are saturated with silica rich liquid. That liquid, through various methods is “evaporated” leaving the silica, often forming some variety of quartz. So the shells being knapped were no longer carbonate but knappable quartz.

This story about changing a small and, to some folks, insignificant part of my material life is more than “meets the eye”. This decision is helping me be more and more comfortable with change a “little bit” at a time. So when the big changes come along I can step outside my views, beliefs and opinions and accept new information.

New information almost always leads to new choices, behavior and realities.