Where do we feel comfortable? When does freedom become a burden? How often do we want to take a decision? When I order a meal somewhere, too many options and questions about how I want the details to be done can be annoying. I want it done like the chef thinks it is best. That will be fine. And if I don’t like it, I will come up with a solution for next time. It is certainly individual and depending on the situation, how much and how detailed we want to decide about something. As a gardener we consider which plant we put where. Maybe also, how big we want it to get. But only few gardeners will attempt to decide how many leaves and flowers shall bloom at each twig of the plant. The larger the area that we are responsible for, the more freedom we can and must give to each individual plant.
As humans we are also cared for by others, similar to a plant in a garden. It depends on the individual and its worldview whether a human would like to have more responsibility than a plant in a garden, like a wildflower in untouched nature, or rather less responsibility, comparable to a machine in a factory, which simply needs to function and is fixed by others in case of any problems. What we have in common is the need for an environment that gives us what we require. We cannot exist in empty space.
So we are always connected to our surroundings. We get light and heat from the sun, our star. We get air and water from earth, our planet. We get food from plants and animals around us. And we get and give attention and purpose from and to the people around us. Especially the last connection continuous to be challenging time and time again. Today there is so many distractions, so many alternatives to a direct contact with other people. We live in a world as dynamic and flexible as never before, change job, change home, change hobbies. And even if we stay where we are, the people around us are moving, and our environment changes as quickly as never before. We interact and communicate through machines, and can get all we need without having to talk to anyone. We can disconnect direct contact with our surroundings, live isolated next to a steadily changing and moving crowd. Without finding or giving orientation. We are then in empty space, with our physical needs taken care of, but mentally abandoned.
This lifestyle is often accompanied by new ideologies and avoidance of traditional values and norms. We leave our past behind, because it seems full of shortcomings, full of injustices, and we deemed it unsuitable for our modern life. But what are we striving for? What do we hope to achieve with the new ideologies? Have we already learned all there is to learn from our history? Do we really need nothing of what we leave behind? Is it smart to turn everything upside down?
It is a difficult step. Much has been interpreted incorrectly, much has fallen victim to selfish interests, was sacrificed in the fight for money and power. Some of the values and norms of the near past have moved far away from the wisdom that we can still find in very old documents. Life in society has become difficult. That affects both small villages and large cities, and everything in between. The relations between people and of each individual to themselves are in a crisis, in a time of change. We don not know who we are, where we come from, where we are going, are lost and discontent because we do not achieve the happiness that was promised. This conflict within us gets us in conflict with others. The results are rejection, hostility, and also war. An intermediate solution for some is to further isolate themselves, as it is also supported by a fast moving world.
This way we get into empty space, feel no longer connected with many other people, with society. We look at them as something strange, dominated by alien forces, that confronts us and overpowers us. The chaos in society can overwhelm us and take our motivation away from us. Then we no longer address what is bothering us. That is a reasonable reaction to protect ourselves. It is exhausting to have a different opinion. It is exhausting, when the values and and the worldview cultivated by society are not matching the personal beliefs. Ideologies that are not matching reality will always convince just a part of the population. That frustrates many, and the reaction are different. Results are unrest, polarization, a divided society and also protest and vandalism. This is yet another situation that is pulling is down. In all that noise we must somehow manage to find rest and strength. We must find out what is good and right, what is true and desirable, what is beautiful and fulfilling on our own as a free human being. And that amidst such a noisy world, full of temptations, full of lies and aberrations. That is a massive challenge, because the dominant, established recommendations and ideologies are often misleading. Trusting in them is possible, but will not result into freedom. The path to freedom we must find ourselves and walk ourselves, if we want to.