optimistic-hotdog

[optimistic-hotdog]

LOVE OF LIFE, LOVE FOR LIFE

Look at something horrible, something ugly, and love it, while wishing to fix it, while wishing to let your strength loose on it so that it might be how you want it to be, or so that it might not be at all. But while you wish to alter it, love it. Love it deeply, for it is of this world, and it is real. Love it for it is a part of the world that birthed you, because it is part of the same chain of cause and effect that led to your existence. Love it because it is part of the only world you will ever know, or at least the only world you know you will ever know.

This idea is as bright as daylight, but it seems abhorrent to most.

[optimistic-hotdog]

The Dilemma

We find before ourselves a choice:

Live for yourself, for your own happiness, or for something beyond yourself.

Happiness is the only goal that needs no justification, and really the only rational goal. Even if there is objective good, how do we reason that we ought to live for that good?

At the same time, those who choose to live just for happiness, often find that they want more. That they want to matter, that they want their life to be more than just their life. That sacrifice is the most effective way to happiness.

But, driven to a new goal beyond themselves, whether that is justice, or beauty, or wisdom, they might find therein the absurdity of sacrificing themselves for something they can’t justify with pure reason.

So now we are stuck between two absurdities. We either choose to aim beyond ourselves, but are bound to find, when things get tough, when this aim brings us suffering, that we begin to look for reason in this self sacrifice, and realize that we can’t find such a reason.

But chasing happiness, which is the only goal we can justify, isn’t even the most effective way to that happiness. And so we are stuck in indecision.

Happiness is the only reasonable goal. But we are not reasonable, and the logic of choosing happiness as the goal of our lives is false, because it doesn’t help hs find it. It doesn’t lead to satisfaction, to meaning, to purpose, to being proud of ourselves. Only mechanical pleasures are left to fill the void.

So we must aim beyond ourselves, and embrace the absurdity of doing so. Live for your values. Not because they are objective, but because you care about them. Consider those you love, how frequently is this love rational? And yet we see the beauty in it. Perhaps the beauty is there because it is irrational. Is it not also beautiful to live for something beyond yourself because you care about it, because you love it? Not because of some divine decree, but because you want to. Embrace the absurdity of self sacrifice.

[optimistic-hotdog]

Internalized Homophobia pt. 2

I wish I could think of loving

Without feeling so haunted

By those kind eyes of my father

And his father

And his father

And his father

[optimistic-hotdog]

Internalized Homophobia

This ideal of masculinity

Inherited patrilineally

Turns your love into a flame,

Warm from far away.

But when we get together,

All that warmth turns into terror.

[optimistic-hotdog]

The need for self sacrifice

The primary impulse behind “way of life” religions seems to be the desire to sacrifice yourself for something greater.

We created God so that we might sacrifice ourselves to Him

[optimistic-hotdog]

Spirituality without belief: a start and introduction

Introduction

In this post I will be explaining my thoughts on spirituality without belief. I am referring to a spirituality that is not dependent on any supernatural belief and can be lived by anyone, including naturalists like myself. I will be talking about what this spirituality entails and how we can live it.

What is the goal of a secular spirituality?

The goal of a secular spirituality is not singular. On the one hand, we seek to be more in touch with our subconscious. We seek to know what’s going on behind our conscious mind, to become aware of our biases and needs, and to remove the things that are subconsciously holding us back.

We also try to fall in love with life. Loving life to me is a very clear way to become happier. But it is far from easy. It involves a deeper appreciation for things we might take for granted, an acceptance of our struggles and suffering, and participating in the world through deeply experiencing it, and through acting in it.

Lastly, but not unimportantly, we try to gain some peace of mind.

Appreciation

One key spiritual practice for me is appreciation. It consists simply of appreciating things we enjoy, especially those things we might take for granted. This can be anything from fully appreciating a cup of tea, like the whole universe revolves around it for a moment, like nothing else matters, to worship (the expression of deep love and reverence) for things like the sun, the moon, nature, beauty, creativity, things we can all agree are worth our love and reverence, even if they aren’t conscious beings.

We can worship the sun for the light she brings us, thank her for it, love her for it, even if she doesn’t respond to it. We don’t do this because she might shine brighter on us if we appease her, but because it helps us appreciate her golden rays more, and does her shine not feel brighter and warmer then? Why would realizing the sun is a flaming ball of gas take away any of her beauty, light and warmth, and any of our love and honor for her? Supernatural belief is not necessary for worship.

The practice of emotion

A lot of spiritual practices can be seen as the practice of emotion. Worship is the practice of adoration, prayer the practice of hope or desire. It is heplful to practice these strong emotions, whether it is to strengthen them or just to get them “out there”.

Instead of praying for someone, we might just hope for them. And then we can still light candles when someone has an exam, or is undergoing treatment, say this hope out loud or write it down, burn incense for it, offer sacrifices for it, even if no one is listening, we can express and practice our hope.

When we feel a strong emotion, like joy, hope, love, or fear. It is good to see how we can make this into a ritual of sorts so we can express it. To practice joy we might dance or sing praises of the thing we are happy about, when we are scared we might say this fear out loud and light a candle and when we love something we might offer it a sacrifice.

[optimistic-hotdog]

Introduction

I’m starting this blog to post my thoughts on spirituality. You will see posts on philosophy, practical posts about spirituality and perhaps here and there some poems and other artistic projects.

In the last few years I have been exploring spiritual paths. From Christianity to paganism I’ve tried many different approaches to spirituality. In the last few months I have found my way to a naturalistic spirituality. I hope to give people some insights on my beliefs and practices and learn from other likeminded people and people who dissagree with me.