Something Different versus Something New
By Greg Stewart
Introduction:
This particular site will receive an introduction, for the following reasons: it is simply an explanation of moods, feelings, and empathy of the circumstance surrounding the angst that I am feeling within myself, my friends both liberal and conservative, a fin de siecle, a sickness of the heart, which cannot be explained away by rationality. It is a compulsion of time, or lack there of, in which the anxiousness of fear, the smell of conspiracy, and the rancor of the inviolate leadership of one’s country. To never have doubt, or never to express them, brings sickness and schizophrenia to the mind and suffocates history. This leads to blindness and unnecessary suffering of the spirit, the heart, and the mind. This essay, for me, is another form of expression. Simply, it is a release, for all the activity in my life, from school, from work, from relationships, and the anxiety that has been pounding my soul. And, to never forget that this is just another day in paradise, and that for all of us, where else can I be free to explain my ideas, beliefs, or the insanity of the moments….And, so it begins….
Okay, here I am searching for the something different in the world of the Internet and once again I find myself depending on Microsoft. Oh, do not get me wrong, planet Microsoft is comfortable, reassuring, and mostly fits into nice little boxes, or drop down boxes, where everything is compartmentalized. This is special, and unique. Okay, maybe not. To blog or not to blog one's ideas, opinion, or aspirations has been a bit of quagmire for me. If I do, what does this say about me, and if I do not--what does that say about me, as well. Understand, in this Age of Information, accessibility to oneself and others has brought us a new level of intimacy. Some say this has erased the lines of privacy, others say that this the next step in our civil evolution: an era of openness and clarity has been transfixed upon us.
In a sense, this clarity may be considered as fomenting a new level of trust among the planet's citizenry, but it can also be used as an opportunity to create dissension. Or, at least that is the perception: To be restricted by two choices, when we live in the world of variety, of discourse, ideology, and beliefs. We as a species, as humans, have found many ways to exists, but have found many ways not to co-exist together. This is what I mean, in the US; we are presently living in a culture of fear. The world of the "Others" has consumed our waking moments and has haunted our dreams.
Unfortunately, our dreams and passions are currently being blinded by the restriction of fear. A great American once said, "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself." He spoke the truth. To see the truth of it, all one has to do is to examine human history. It is replete with examples, and before anyone suggests that I am implying only the Western-American culture has this failing, I am not. History of violence, and the current definition of it, has shown that all humanity is left with this frailty. But it is our aspiration for some, and for most, that attend to our angels, desires, and ascend to the next step. It is the defining of what's next in which we find ourselves. What must not happen, albeit compelling from the anxious among us; is to be defined by our own fear. Fear is limiting, it shunts growth and openness for new opportunities.
So, what does this have to do with Microsoft? Everything and nothing, I was just noticing as I was going through the limitation of choices as I was doing my profile. I noticed that this was suppose to convey the how, the who, and the what I am. To define me with drop down menus, and give freely the information, so later they, being Microsoft, or whomever, could appeal to my interests. For example, my choice for music is varied, and bit eclectic. Music appeals to me to culturally, orally, and instrumentally. It, music, in many ways, communicates who and what we are through emotion or the lack of it, and yet it has the ability to insinuate the differences among us so that on a intuitive level one can transcend and accept those differences. Music is the human equivalent of the universal translator, the narration in which we define ourselves. In essence, it has the ability to shape, and sometimes manipulate, the us within the community. So to be classified by a drop menu is a bit restrictive, in order to define oneself musically. At the least, its brevity leaves us in circumspect, uniformed and incomplete, and at the flip side, it leaves oneself in isolation and limiting. In time, I will, of course, reveal all. It is as always a matter of time, and in the American experience just another day in paradise. The question remains, however, for me and all of us, am I, or we just afraid of something different versus something new, or vice-a-versa? Are these interesting times a preamble for the next step? And what is the step to be define? And, can we trust we divine when the time comes? Of course, that is truth of it, to trust our own divinity. So, what do you think, is there something more?
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