Disenthrall (30th May 2010)

I'd like for you to watch this video and then immediately, the video after that. It's a total of 38 minutes that you won't get back but you'll be happier for it, I'm certain.

1.


2.

I've been thinking lately about where I'm headed and how I got here. I've been thinking about the people around me and their opinions, the stigma surrounding our choices and the fact that at 21, I probably don't know any better.

Through this conflict, I've tried hard to hold a few things close. Simple maxims like do what you love and believe in yourself and other classics have always made sense to the world so I don't see how different it needs to be in practice. Which is a milder phrase for 'in life'.

There are two types of people in this world. Those who divide the world into two types and those who do not.

He talks about disenthrallment. It's a big, beautiful, four-syllabled word to describe the process of liberation. In this context, with respect to every day concepts.

Try and examine the things that you take for granted. It's difficult, because you take them for granted. But if you make an effort, if you put some thought into your values and your understanding of the world and why you think things are the way they are, you may be able to free yourself from the bondage of established ideas. This sure helps to re-appreciate the human capacity and aptitude to do virtually anything.

The word 'but' is really starting to annoy me. I use it all the time, I admit. But what it stands for, what it represents is something I am beginning to disagree with. I showed those videos to my beautiful mother. She's a teacher. She laughed and smiled and nodded her head in unconditional concurrence and once we were done, uttered the sinful and oh-so-familiar 'but'.

Why? I happen to think his argument is sound and more accurately, complete.

"But..."

I'm sure you've heard it before and amidst the times you've gone "yeah, yeah I guess you're right" there has definitely been at least one solitary instance of that three lettered word striking a nerve, triggering a spot and causing a sense of discomfort and loathe-some displeasure everybody hates to be acquainted with.

You know, these are things we talk about and read about and watch in movies all the time. We agree with them, we are inspired by them, we read the Lance Armstrong books and then... and then... we go on with our lives. We endure our daily routine and wait for the weekend, as he put it. If there's someone you know who is sincerely or even remotely making an effort to deny this ungainly existence, I say either encourage him or step off. There is no middle ground.

I'm sure he appreciates the motivation with which you express your concern or disdain for his choices. But the more you force him to dwell on his circumstances, the higher the chance of him buckling under the pressure you and everyone else in the world regrets to create.

We are in a hurry to settle down. Imagine that.

A hurry to settle down.

Sir Ken Robinson is right, you know. This linearity is obsolete. We are no longer in the era of industrialism. Standardization has served its course. Destroy the conveyor belt. Art has room to breathe now. So do chartered accountants. Whatever floats your boat, man. We are in the age of agriculture, where everything and everyone is personal and truly enough, we're getting back to basics.

He says we need to prepare our children for the future. Thanks to our busy lives, the future is closer than we think.

He says we need to prepare for the World of the Organic.

And guess what?

It's T-60 seconds to take off.