| | It has been way too long since I have been able to write on this specific blog. Partly because I forgot the password for a long time, but here I am.
As humans, we realize that knowledge is power, but ignorance is bliss. So we have to constantly ask ourselves which is more important, happiness or power. Now, I cannot think up an argument which would prove that the bliss associated with ignorance can bring power, but to many people power can ultimately bring happiness, but the road is long and generally painful, so not always is it worth it. The real problem though is whether or not we can actually enjoy our happiness depending on how we gained our power. If we crushed every rival and stepped on everyone's head along our road to power, chances are we won't be happy and can't ever be because we have to look behind our back to make sure a trained ninja isn't about to tear out our liver with his bare hands!!! But seriously, depending on how we gained our power, we may have to spend so much time watching our back that we can never enjoy what is in front of us...
But, how often do we, once we have gained power, choose to be blind to certain aspects of our life in order to pretend to be happy. Or maybe we actually are happy, but we are still blind. Sometimes that blindness is worth it, but that is very very rare. Thinking about that different ways that we blind ourselves, I have come up with three major categories: fear, ignorance, and hope. The real question: which is the worst, to be blinded by fear, ignorance, or hope?
We are blinded by fear when we choose to ignore when something is going on because we are scared we will be caught watching, so we just choose not to see what is actually happening. We are scared that the people involved will find out that we know and will try to silence us, either by confrontation or death, or we are scared that a third party will find out that we know and will either try to us the information for wrong (only happens if we like the people who are involved) or try to silence us, or we are scared of what it will mean to admit to ourselves what is actually happening. All three possibilities involve blinding ourselves. All three protect someone, either ourselves or the people involved. But is it worth it? Sometimes admitting to ourselves what is going on is painful, but that pain will allow us to heal or wake us up to the fact that we need to be healed. Sometimes confronting the people involved will give us a chance to help them out or help them to get close to us, because they now have someone to confide in. But sometimes both of these ideas aren't true. Sometimes when we confront someone about something, they fight us, get mad, hate us, and might leave our lives. But is it worth the temporary safety to just tell ourselves that nothing is happening?
The lack of sight created by ignorance is a favorite among gossipers. If you only know half the story, you don't have to have the moral, mental, and emotional confusion associated with knowing both sides of a story. If you actually know what is going on, it becomes a lot more complicated and you might not be able to make a decision because what is "right" isn't very clear. If we allow ourselves to not know the entirety of the truth, we never have to worry about harming our morals, because all we know is that a wrong was committed. Unfortunately, chances are someone probably had a reason that was at least a good one to them. Is this self-protection worth it or should we take the emotional risk and learn the complete truth?
Blinded by hope...this is a dangerous one. We hope that something will work out, that it will be alright, but we blind ourselves to the fact that it might not. That it might all fall apart. That maybe someone isn't as good of a person as they seem. That a boyfriend or a girlfriend isn't who you always thought or wished they were. That a friend might not always be able to be there. That a religion or a religious path isn't as true as you thought it was. That your mentor isn't who you should actually be. Whatever it is, it is dangerous, because being blinded by hope is being blinded by a bright white light. Being blinded by fear is like entering a dark room after being outside, you can't see for a little while and you might stumble if you try to move too much, but you can see after a short while if you just wait. Being blinded by ignorance is like walking around with your eyes shut, you don't see things simply because you choose not to, but you can open your eyes any time you want to. Being blinded by hope is like staring into the sun, if you do it too long, you won't ever be able to see again. Granted, hope is healthy. We should wish for certain things to happen, because hope is one of the biggest reasons to live. Hope makes us happy and gives us something to strive for. Hope, like the sun, is bright ray which illuminates every other aspect of our lives. But we need to be able to tell ourselves when our hope isn't what we thought it was, that we shouldn't be wishing for the things we are, that we need to stop staring at the sun and look at the world around us. Chances are once we do, it might not be as beautiful as it was in our minds. Sometimes, our eyes are so damaged, we can't see what our lives are like anymore and we need a friend to describe to us what it is actually like. And that is scaring, letting someone tell us our dream isn't true, but sometimes it is the only way to cleanse our eyes...
I would like to point out this didn't end the way I thought it would (for those of you who don't understand, that last line is an allusion to something else I once wrote), but that the situations written about before fit very well with that paragraph.
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| | Posted 9/10/2007 12:05 AM - 4 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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