The Power of One

Mankind, the human, so amazing in our abilities that I can hardly believe at times that we are simply a product of constant improvement over many millennia. Or maybe that is precisely where the beauty lies. In an environment constantly refined to support this fascinating idea called "life", humans and all of our earthling brethren are hoisted high as well.

As a collective there is no doubt in mind that we still have but a vague understanding of our own nature. But as individuals, we have come a long way through introspection that spans the time of our entire existence. In this sense we are not unique among the creatures of this world, I am positive that each has a capacity to reason in its own way the necessities and implications of its own existence. In a later musing I am sure I will delve in much depth as to my perceived nature of our collective being, our access to it, and our inescapable interdependence with it. For now my mind is focused on the layer of the one.

When I was quite young, my dad used to read me "The Power of One", a novel by Bryce Courtney. Before long I read the book myself, and then again twice at other points in my life. The story is of the young British boy in apartheid South Africa, a tale that follows the woeful adversity he faced juxtaposed with the horrific racism surrounding him as he grows up to be a young man following his dreams. He encounters many mentors of various mental and physical capabilties, each offering to him in their own existences fascinating lessons of the capacity for beauty and ugliness afforded to each person. It is a story of metamorphosis and of solidarity, of acceptance and also of passionate fights for change. It is of this last idea that I wish to speak about.

"we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal".. ignoring any misogynistic insinuations latent in the statement, It makes me think of something fascinating ideas. Is it meaning to say that at creation we are equal, and henceforth we diverge? And so does it mean to imply that discrimination is just a result of us ceasing to be equal after creation? No I don't think so, at least I hope not. Perhaps it should do away with "created". But that itself is not what I mean to discuss. It sparks a very interesting line of thought in my mind, that we are all the same to begin and life superimposes itself upon us and creates in each of us a work of art quite unlike any other, though the same in essence.

Whenever I read a book, or watch a movie, or spend any significant amount of mind of something or someone, I find myself to be completely different for the experience. Whether it be because of my simian roots, or simply because my mind works to make connections of everything,

I find myself literally "re-wired" by each and all of my experiences. I am constantly absorbing, ever changing, just like how I perceive the world, nature, to be doing around me. I get inspired very easily. The pain of others experience crushes me as well. Their joys take me to new highs. And their misery is my own. I am an aspiring writer, mathematician, scientist, entrepreneur, programmer, inventor, artist, musician, and athlete. Those who have told me what I can't do have only shown me their own self-imposed limitations. I am the synthesis of every story that has ever played out in my mind. And aren't you as well?

The state of being jaded is one thing that I cannot share. At times, I admit, I can feel a wave of it. But I cannot be of it. To be closed to the implications of every experience to me is not to exist, its the surest path to death, a path which I am not yet ready to take, unless it is all that is allotted to me.

Social conditioning often dictates to us that we must follow one path and one alone, whether it be in your profession, or sadly even in our beliefs. I rebel against this not for the sake of rebellion, but truly because I cannot live that way. That way of living to me is almost like a pyramid scheme perpetuated by the nearly-deads, where death itself is the reward. The collective regret of the poor souls who chose to block out the rest of the world, eschewing the paths not taken, is a poison made to trickle down to even the freshest amongst us.

"The power of one" reminds me again and again, despite what those would have you believe, you can be anything you want to be.. in fact you can be EVERYTHING you want to be. We have no limits except our imagination. There is a beautiful force in nature that still defies scientific understanding, and that is the human capacity to shape life around our desires. The pure magnetism, for lack of a better word, of our being. We can bring to ourselves anything we dream of. We can bring to the world all that we so desperately desire. The power of our will knows no bounds when we refuse to know them ourselves, and only when our entire being is encompassed completely by this burning desire.

Take the time to think, and then take whats necessary to truly believe in what comes from your mind. We are masters of communication and so too deception, so be wary that it is even possible for another human to bend his will against that of your own. To take up the fight only results in mutual annihilation. Trust your passion to guide you through it all. There is nothing that you can't do, good or evil. Just want it, and know that you want it. Be at peace with your own volition and also be the perfect storm of your passion.

For every lock of impossibility there is in our passion the key.