hmmmmm......
Are we living here at this time? Are we all living at the same time? People have lived before us, and we can assume that people will live long after us, but right now we are here, living. So, no matter how hard we try to avoid it, we are part of a big group of people, all existing together, which strechtes beyond the temporal constraints of "past" and "future", in that the responsibilities of each person is shared indefinitely, in all directions of time. What has been will effect what is, which will effect what will be. In reverse, "what-will-be", has the power to then become "what-is" and "what-was", so does each event in time and each person who is part of the event. Does this mean we infact inhabit all locations at once and have the power to influence in all directions at once?
Even though we're spread out all over the globe, we are right next to each other, in space and in time. As the population continues to grow and grow we will find each other closer and closer to one another. And not only will we become closer due to the crowding of our relative spaces, but also due to advances in technology and travel, which shrink perceived distance between one another. The effects of this closeness can be seen in how we communicate, how we deal with space, and how we view ourselves in the midst of what surrounds us.
Isn't it only natural for many of us make efforts to live within a controlled environment we create inside of the real world? Is it necessary, in order to protect ourselves from what we see as a threatening invasion of our "personal" space, to turn further inward? And the personal space is not limited to the physical environment, but also to the psychological environment, which often seems to feel equally invaded. Is it natural to focus our thoughts towards our own comfort, instead of struggling with the seemingly impossible challenge of improving the world? Some of us may as though feel our very identities are being threatened by what exists around us. Then is it natural that we amplify our own unique qualities in order to send a signal to the rest of the world that "we" are "we" and "you" are "they"?
For some of us, our quick fire reaction drives us into a reclusive detachment from what we feel is an unhealthy world. Rather than doing battle, and meeting the challenges of an invasive and difficult world, some of us retreat into a template of ready-made understanding, complete with walls to close out and cut off what feels too threatening to deal with. Is there anything wrong with this? And if there was something wrong, would it be wrong for everyone or just a select few? Does building your own world within the world the same as developing your "inner-world" which you live in as a way of exeperiencing the "real world"? Is this a beautiful idea? Is there a difference between existing in an organized civilization of your own imagination and existing in an organized civilization of other people's imaginations? Either effort can be futile, because the very concept is based upon what seems an absolute impossibility. Is it impossible to live in a world that is not part of a world that we already live in? Who knows...
Are humans any more individual than the matter that forms them? Is our conciusness our indivduality? And what is it that we use to identify our identity? How do we seperate objects in the world and make them seperate and contained within themselves? How do we peel them apart from every other thing on the earth? Are all things part of something bigger? And not just in the materialistic sense of objects in space, but are all tangible ideas, thoughts, experiences, and objects part of something more? Not always bigger, but always more than, and always beyond full understanding? If we put all of our energy into pretending that the rest of the world doesn't exist, would we convince ourselves that it's not there? And why work day in and day out to barricade ourselves with thicker walls, when we can instead become stronger and grow thicker skins? If we can become better at being people, and assuming we're all related, then by making ourselves better, will all of man benefit?