I learned a long time ago the difference between sadness and despair. Sadness is when the heart hurts and despair is when the soul hurts. I also learned that when a soul is in the pit of despair it is very important to have a release. One of the best forms of release is in words. Even when you do not utter your words into another’s ears, it is still very important to have them. It is important to write them down, to read them, to reread them, and to absorb what it is they mean to you. Only in such a way can we clear our mind and go on from where we are now to where we want to be. For centuries man has done this through poetry and philosophy.
In this day and age we have lost our poets and philosophers. We have people that call themselves by those monikers but they are not being true to themselves. Poetry and philosophy should be for those that are doing the thinking, but we’ve turned commercial and only write and think what we assume others want to hear. There was a time when everyone was a poet, a time when every person was a philosopher, but we have lost that to mass media. We do not think for ourselves any longer, but rather we follow the popular mass like cattle. We assume that since the herd is traveling one direction then that is the proper path for us.
That herd mentality is what has taken the greater hand in causing the fear and hate in the world. Because of the train of thought that leads us to try to fit into the mass populous we are more prone to notice those things that are different, and we fear what is different. Fear leads to hate. That fear and hate have created every prejudice that we should fight against: racism, sexism, homophobia, and wars over ideology.
What’s worse is that this same herd mentality also attacks within. It makes us question everything about ourselves. It infects us with a fear that we may not fit into the herd. We become ashamed or embarrassed by ourselves. We question our own ideas, we despise our appearance, and we shun our dreams, all in the effort to conform into the herd, which we ourselves cannot stand.
Our ideas may cause us to stand out, our appearance may point out that we are different, our dreams my guide us outside of the confines of the herd, but all of this is what makes us who we are. Our individuality is what makes us strong, and if experienced for what it is it also is what brings us together. With the fear that others are different added to the fear that others may see through our façade to see that wee are truly different we separate ourselves from one another. We gather in groups and talk about what we think everyone else wants to talk about, and the silence is deafening. My ideas may not be your ideas, my direction may confuse you, but it gives us something to talk about and makes for an interesting conversation.
The most important thing in life is to know who you are. By opening honest communication with others and the sharing of ideas one can truly find out about oneself. A person can also find out about themselves simply by writing down their thoughts and ideas for no other purpose than to read them to themselves. Either way it helps to form the ideas and helps your figure out what those ideas mean to you. You cannot expect anyone else to understand you if you do not first truly understand yourself.
Only when we learn to be poets and philosophers again can we expect people to treat us how we would like to be treated, because only then will we treat them in kind, and only then will we truly know who we are. There is nothing wrong with losing yourself in your own mind from time to time and thinking for yourself. There is no shame in running outside of the herd.
Lee O. Easter, III
