Allowing Joy When Your World is Dark

Be happy when you see those who are care free and enjoying their lives. For that is you after all; we are all one. I used to get upset when I would see a couple posting their latest vacation pictures on social media because I could not remember that last time that I had one of those kind of vacations. I work all the time and cannot see or imagine a life outside of my daily routine; I am always behind and in debt. This, however, does not mean that I cannot enjoy the adventures of others. One does not need experience directly these adventures in order to take the same pleasure.

For example, there is a stimulating show that appeared on youtube some years ago called Roadkill where two guys would buy old left-for-dead cars and revive them with expensive speed parts and then they would immediately take a road trip in it and almost always break down later, but that was just part of the entertainment. They started this with their own money and a few inside connections they had at their jobs at Hotrod magazine and took their first roadkill car from El Paso, Texas to California. From there it became one of the more popular car shows that eventually got picked up by Motor Trend. It was so much fun to watch those episodes - truly original content! They only came out about once a month because they were just regular guys that found a niche. Each time they had a new junk yard car and a new adventure in mind.

This of course made me want to start turning wrenches on some of my old decrepit rust buckets and maybe buy a few more. I realized though, that I did not have a very large speed parts budget... or a budget for any parts really, or cars for that matter. It certainly peaked my interest though and I did some work on my own cars to improve them and learn, but I realized that I did not need to build rat rods and add $10,000 of parts for a car worth $300 to enjoy it. Simply watching their show brought me the same joy there were experiencing. I guess that is what makes a good reality show - if you feel like you are there too, they have done a good job in their production. Now watching a race with a built car or truck will never be the same as actually experiencing it, but this is where wisdom is applied; realizing that we are all one and that those actually experiencing it are actually one and the same as those observing it. I am fairly certain that with enough focus and concentration, one could be come completely conscious of this and astral travel to either experience.

Even though in my life I am physically limited, I can travel anywhere in the world in my mind. There are limitless sources of stimulating content. Most people take for granted the fact that for the last 50 years, we can see other parts of the world on TV and in print with almost no time delay. Prior to the 20th century, travel physically and of information was a slow process. What blew the lid off that limit was the internet, which opened up real time world wide communication for the first time to almost everyone in developed regions. Over twenty years later and the world has seen more prosperity than it even has.

This however is not evident in many parts of the United States, which was one of the innovators of the world wide web. That is because in this country, we enjoyed over 100 years of accelerated economic growth and our standard of living increased significantly compared to the rest of the world. The internet was like poking holes in our tall glass of water and since, our standard of living has gone down relativity, while it has gone up in other impoverished countries like Russian, China, and India to name a few, which now have some of largest and strongest economies in the world. If I did not have open communication with the rest of the world, I would have a different perception because this part of the world is now impoverished; and this is a fantastic example of collective ego backlash of entire nation. The United States will be fine; things will balance out eventually. As the old bluegrass standard goes, "It's a long long way to the top of the world, but it's only a short fall back down."

So even from my place of poverty, I take pleasure in knowing that the standards of living of so many other people have increased. More people are traveling, owning property, doing amazing feats, and creating beautiful art, than ever before! Just look at the progress of Dubai since 2000 and you will see what I mean. But if you live in the United States, you have to look a little harder for it because a lot of people are struggling to see passed their own drama and dire situations, which they project into the universe, causing it to become their world view. Just looking around and seeing what other people are doing and talking about around the world paints a much different picture than the one I see in my home town in Colorado.

So during this collective ego backlash that nearly all Americans are feeling, it is a time to simplify, reflect, and learn from others in other parts of the world. There is a lot of change occurring; some positive and some negative; the prior outweighing the latter. So if your world is dark, take time to appreciate that it still not half as bad as living in rural India or China 20 year ago, or any impoverished region. Now that Americans are impoverished, we are still riding the crest of a wave created many decades ago and that momentum will continue to last for some time and hopefully by then, there will be a nice bed of sand for which we can safely land and then go catch the next wave, for life is cyclical and multifaceted. To feel the joy in the world at any time, one need only quiet their mind and become conscious of the collective joy that is increasing by the minute in this world. If it is happening to them, it is also happening to you. Namastè.