what are friends for?
A good friend will empathize, care about your well-being, etc. But when I am at a crossroads, I rarely tell my buddies about it. That's because I don't want them to help me get what I want. That's the typical advice that a friend gives. "If you want to get ahead in life, ya gotta take life by the horns, and pull yourself up by the bootstraps,..." and so on. And if I get the thing I want, I don't really want it anymore. That's because friends can only push you in the direction of something you lack, something you lose.
They can't give you desire.
Desire is the perception of what you want to contribute to your environment. Charity is a desire. Philanthropy is a desire. Imparting wisdom is a desire. Curing a disease, mending a bone, fixing a house... these are desires.
Want, on the other hand, is the perception of what you want to take from the environment. It's the perception of the void within you. Getting rid of loneliness is a want. Paying off your debts is a want. Distracting yourself from your troubles with entertainment and pleasures... that is a want.
Friends can help you get your wants taken care of. They cannot do anything about your desire. They can't help you give something to the world by taking it out of you. It has to be something you already desire.
So what do I desire concerning music, and poetry, and acting? What do I contribute through these? My emotions? My life story? My character studies? They don't necessarily need those. It's entertaining...It's a nice distraction that they may want. No. My desire is to give an audience the chance to express something communally that it couldn't otherwise emote. In that auditorium, together, those people get to project their own experiences and do all the laughing, crying, loving, hating, and everything in between that they couldn't do in public. Everyone's happiness, sadness, anger, fear, etc. are accepted by each other during that song, that poem, that movie, that play, or whatever they are experiencing. That's my contribution: the public acceptance of an individual's formerly private emotions. That's vital. Unless you are in a town with 45 people in it, you don't get to share your whole self with your world. Humans need that.
What do I desire concerning my job? I desire the same thing from my students as I would an audience. That's hard to do, so I'm not very satisfied. I also desire their intellectual growth and moral development. Not all of them will experience that, and almost none of them will care about it. My job as a teacher does not give me what I desire. It only gives me what I want: some money, some stability, etc.
What do I desire concerning a relationship? I desire her emotions to be accepted, too. I desire her intellectual growth and moral development, though I wouldn't have to do that all the time, of course. But I had wants in the past relationships, as well. Perhaps too much. Warmth when I feel cold inside. Approval when others do not give it. Pleasure when I feel pain. These wants for myself should have been superceded by my desires for their well-being.
Perhaps my wants (money, comforts, companionship, pleasure) don't have to take over my desires. It is time for me to be like the man in the poem I wrote. I do not have to depend on others' warm sentiments and merriment. I should stand with them, and serve them.
From far away, my heart is calling me. I walk the trail. And, hopefully, my passions will be awakened. :)
They can't give you desire.
Desire is the perception of what you want to contribute to your environment. Charity is a desire. Philanthropy is a desire. Imparting wisdom is a desire. Curing a disease, mending a bone, fixing a house... these are desires.
Want, on the other hand, is the perception of what you want to take from the environment. It's the perception of the void within you. Getting rid of loneliness is a want. Paying off your debts is a want. Distracting yourself from your troubles with entertainment and pleasures... that is a want.
Friends can help you get your wants taken care of. They cannot do anything about your desire. They can't help you give something to the world by taking it out of you. It has to be something you already desire.
So what do I desire concerning music, and poetry, and acting? What do I contribute through these? My emotions? My life story? My character studies? They don't necessarily need those. It's entertaining...It's a nice distraction that they may want. No. My desire is to give an audience the chance to express something communally that it couldn't otherwise emote. In that auditorium, together, those people get to project their own experiences and do all the laughing, crying, loving, hating, and everything in between that they couldn't do in public. Everyone's happiness, sadness, anger, fear, etc. are accepted by each other during that song, that poem, that movie, that play, or whatever they are experiencing. That's my contribution: the public acceptance of an individual's formerly private emotions. That's vital. Unless you are in a town with 45 people in it, you don't get to share your whole self with your world. Humans need that.
What do I desire concerning my job? I desire the same thing from my students as I would an audience. That's hard to do, so I'm not very satisfied. I also desire their intellectual growth and moral development. Not all of them will experience that, and almost none of them will care about it. My job as a teacher does not give me what I desire. It only gives me what I want: some money, some stability, etc.
What do I desire concerning a relationship? I desire her emotions to be accepted, too. I desire her intellectual growth and moral development, though I wouldn't have to do that all the time, of course. But I had wants in the past relationships, as well. Perhaps too much. Warmth when I feel cold inside. Approval when others do not give it. Pleasure when I feel pain. These wants for myself should have been superceded by my desires for their well-being.
Perhaps my wants (money, comforts, companionship, pleasure) don't have to take over my desires. It is time for me to be like the man in the poem I wrote. I do not have to depend on others' warm sentiments and merriment. I should stand with them, and serve them.
From far away, my heart is calling me. I walk the trail. And, hopefully, my passions will be awakened. :)