Our Colorful, Interesting World
As a child, it was very natural to see the world in black & white. Every situation seemed to have a right answer and a wrong answer. Usually what your parents think is right and everyone else is wrong. As you get older though, the world starts to become more and more grey. Things don’t seem so concrete anymore, and decisions become much more complicated. This can be very disillusioning, and at this point, how you respond to this new grey world determines a lot about how your life will be.
You can look at your life and think “well there’s no clear answers, so it doesn’t matter what I do”, which, of course, will get you absolutely nowhere. Or, you can take a completely different view of it:
While a black and white world would be simple, easy, and reassure every decision, it would also be a very bland and boring world.
With no chance for variation, life becomes formulaic. Although there is a high level of certainty, there is also no uncertainty. While this means there are no unexpected problems, there are also no pleasant surprises.
In a grey world, there are nuances that make life more meaningful.
As humans, we need a certain level of uncertainty. It’s what allows us to appreciate life. You would never know you were on top of a hill if you had never looked up at it from a valley. Just as you would never know life was going well unless you had a means of comparison. We need the bad times to appreciate the good. Adding the infinite amount of points between black and white makes a huge difference for the better.
Now, I’ve compared the false impression of the world (the black and white) and the actual way the world works (grey), but I’m going to add one more dimension: The way to appreciate the real world.
While, as an adult, it’s easy to see that the world is not cut and dry, it is not easy to see the beauty in it. The world is not black and white, but neither is a rainbow. Once you can see life as colorful and interesting, you can really appreciate every moment. But for every bit of good you allow into your life, you allow its shadow as well. Just as Dorothy found the colorful world full of songs and munchkins, she also found the wicked witch. What you’re left with is two ways of seeing things:
1. Don’t allow anything into your life for fear of its shadow (for example, not allowing yourself to fall in love out of fear of getting hurt.)
2. Keeping your door open, and enjoying the good with the knowledge that all things must end, and everything casts a shadow.
I prefer the latter. There’s no lesson here, just an exploration of thought. A glance at ways to view the world. No right, no wrong, just color.
2 years ago
