As the sun begins to set in the west, again revealing its dominance over any passing storm no matter how lengthy or obnoxious, I cannot help but pay tribute to the way the sun manages to light up the cotton swab clouds with such unceasing ability and color beyond any palette. It’s in these moments where it’s no wonder that our ancestors used to pray to the elements, for where else than fire, wind and water can we procure a sunset with little fluffy clouds. I suppose one could look towards the properties of water and the action of photons, but that would be like asking Manet to do a paint by number, but even getting what we seek in those instances somehow really takes the joy out of “Ooohh, look at that!”
So we’ll leave the topic of nature and begin to think of human, the most unnatural animal to ever crawl from the sea. I’ve learned as of late that many people are failing to be unnatural however. There is a small but dedicated group that seems hell bent on maintaining that we still have impulses that cannot and should not be repressed by drugs or therapy, a rouge faction that threatens to spend time naturally producing vitamin D instead of getting it from their daily multivitamin. While the rest of society becomes, as we can only hope, more dependant on things they do not understand, there are some who just will not conform. You would think that eradicating this group would be a matter on par with small pox: difficult, but very possible. I mean think about it: this loose affiliation of members, I don’t even believe that they communicate except by chance (although I will say that when the do meet, they have a lot of trouble separating), yet they manage to remain functional on their own. Society dangles money, all the best material possessions (think about how much sun you could get in your $2.5 million sun room), arm candy, celebrities, Reality TV, Crime Dramas, a cartoon for a president, and the overwhelming ability to allow technology to perform all of the functions of daily life for you, thinking included. Just think, with enough devotion and gumption we could eventually become brains in a vat: hooked up machines to satisfy every whim.
Just think of the ramifications. Without your body, you could theoretically live forever. We would hook you up, make sure that all the right centers of the mind are functioning optimally. Imagine a life where you are psychologically driven to succeed, where the chemicals in you r brain have been designed by our specialists to force the right decisions? What are the right decisions? Well, that’s up to you, we have options available. Even you, silly defectors: we can put you in your grassy field without all of the troubles that you currently see. Don’t like skyscrapers? Gone. Spraw? We’ll control the population of your mind so that it never gets too crowded. It’s the best lucid dream ever.
Some however will just cannot take the hint. You getting your information from the printed page. You who can still make food that isn’t frozen or canned. You who dares to think for yourself, you who lives with the primal drive to carve your own niche. All of you who remember that there are global climate zones. All of you who know how a light bulb works. To all of you who have decided that self-regard and freedom of choice are the only options in living I have just one thing to say: congratulations. You embody the parts of life are actually worth making a habit of, and it is folks like you and sunsets like this evening’s who combined reveal the need to hold sacred to all the idea that the meaning of life may be found in the unique and beautiful way we interact with nature, and not in the way that we dominate it.
