You're Not Wrong for Feeling The Way That You Do - a proposition for creating meaning

I come here genuinely and with nothing but my earnest beliefs and thoughts.

When you're feeling hopeless about the future, going to work and paying rent forever, lonely, depressed, anxious, and so on, there isn't anything wrong with you. You are a normal human, having a completely normal reaction to your environment. When it’s a beautiful day, and you’re stuck at work, and you have this visceral feeling of “this is not how it should be” – you are correct.

This widespread alienation imposed by capitalism is relatively new. Humans have lived together, and in harmony and reciprocity with nature, for thousands upon thousands of years. This created language, culture, and society itself. The default state for a human being was to be with others – “alone” had to be sought out. Now, things have been flipped on their head. We’re alone by default, and genuine connection with others must be actively pursued. This pursuit can be exhausting, not because we’ve all somehow become “introverts”, but because we’re social creatures who are being deprived of something we desperately need.

When we don’t use our social muscles, they atrophy. To use an atrophied muscle will, of course, cause pain. But that doesn’t mean some of us are inherently “not cut out to socialize” – these muscles must be rebuilt.

Meanwhile, science has created staggering advances in our understanding of the material world. This is good! But it has also diminished belief in religion and the supernatural, leaving the original purpose of these beliefs unaddressed in their absence. Existential questions, about meaning – these questions are not the realm of science, but of philosophy and religion. Dismantling capitalism would be fantastic, but why? Because it’d let us lead more fulfilling lives. But why would they be more fulfilling? Self-determination. And what would that self-determination let us choose to do? The things we find meaningful.

I believe that religion, at its core, is the result of a collective process of humans getting together to do meaning-making. That the spiritual is the “meaning-ful” – that which imbues meaning. Dispensing with the idea of a concrete god, I believe that in order to collectively address our emotional need for meaning as human animals, we need to create a new spirituality around meeting these needs.

To go out into the world, and experience all of its wonder, should be understood as divine in and of itself. Nature, in and of itself, is beautiful, and a fundamental good. Nature, in and of itself, is worthy of being treated with gravity, awe, and spiritual reverence.

If you are against climate change and the destruction of the world’s ecosystems, it’s probably not just because it will harm humanity. Other animals and plants, but also lakes, oceans, mountains, beautiful places, are at risk. To knock over a millions-of-years-old rock formation is considered a travesty and a great harm, even if no plants or animals are hurt at all. This is not a neutral observation, but a reflection of values and what we consider meaningful. To consider our natural world as inherently of value and worth protecting – this is in fact a spiritual belief. This is what it means to hold nature as sacred.

Modern society has removed us from nature and pretends we are no longer a part of it, but we are. Humans have harmed the environment, but I would never argue that we’re some separate, evil outside force imposing ourselves on it – we just need to reconnect. We need to reconnect with our nature as human beings, by connecting with each other. We can, and should, be a part of the ecosystem, and move our way of life and world view in that direction accordingly. We, too, are nature.

In the same way that plants exchange nutrients with the air and soil, and geese fly and swim and dive, humans socialize, cook, eat, sing, dance, tell stories, laugh, make art. That’s our version of geese doing their goosing – humans, doing our human-ing.

What follows is a list of concrete advice, for putting these ideas into practice:

• Learn to be present. There are lots of ways to do this. If you’re not in the present moment, how will you experience what’s in front of you?
• Practice vulnerability. If you won’t reveal your true self to others, how can you ever connect with them?
• Embrace weirdness. People are all much weirder than they let on, but they hide it out of fear of judgment. Be as weird as you are, celebrate it, and lean into it, to become the most “you” version of you that could possibly exist.
• Embrace passion! And not just yours, either. Cultivate joy in sharing your passions with others as well as hearing about, asking questions, and participating in theirs.
• Make some friends. Find a local hobby group, meet people you like there, then ask them to hang out outside the group. Pick an outdoor space that doesn’t cost money and is easy for you all to get to, and meet there regularly. Call each other on the phone to ask to hang out that day. Make a group chat and say you’ll be at X place at X time, if anybody wants to stop by – and be there.
• Go on walks. By yourself, and with others as a social activity.
• Talk to strangers! They are your community.
• Learn about local trees, plants, animals, birds, insects. Pick what interests you! If you can identify even a few of these things on your walks, it’s like running into a friend.
• Learn to identify and appreciate beauty. Cultivate a sense of awe and reverence. If you’re outside and the sun is setting, look at it! Revel in it. Share it with others.
• Learn to repair stuff, and work with your hands. This creates a bond of intimacy between you and the objects in your life, and emphasizes their preciousness and the infinitely complex chain of production and labor that brings everything we see into existence.
• Do not be complacent in a sea of unsatisfyingness. Practice critical thinking and media literacy, and carefully evaluate whether the technology you use, the things you’re doing, surrounding yourself with, etc, are having a positive spiritual impact on you, your loved ones, and the world as a whole.
• Embrace the spiritual, but don’t neglect the material. Oppose landlords, fight racism, unionize your workplace.
• Just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s good. Become a student. Always be curious.

Love and gratitude are in there somewhere too. The closer you get with others and with the natural world, the stronger they’ll become. I think it’s only sensible that developing an appreciation for something would lead to feelings of fondness and gratitude toward that thing. When you feel it, take notice. It’s also okay to express it, whether that’s verbally, through actions, some sort of ritual – whatever is meaningful to you. This is all about creating meaning, after all.

I have a lot more to say about living these values – ideas about art, aesthetics, technology, agriculture, food, and so on. But I think I’ll save that for another time, or maybe some sort of talk/discussion.

I hope that, if you’ve picked up this document, you take the time to read and earnestly think about the ideas within. I understand that handing out manifestos on the street is considered insane behavior. I ask that you suspend your judgment, in order to understand that what you are currently reading was created by someone out of genuine care.

Thank you for your time.