Live Dangerously!

It's what I'm beginning to call the Curse of Domestic Routine (CDR). It means the repetition of certain acts, certain smiles, the passing of certain drinks, the artificiality of certain poses, the cowgazed hypnotic adoration of televised sports, the chaos of undisciplined children, the libinal air of adolescent wishes, all in proximity to the family, the American home in particular. In summa: comfortability. If it must be expressed philosophically, its veins are tied in with the Utilitarian canon that pain should be negated and pleasure augmented. Otherwise known as the American dream. Otherwise esoterically known as an existential nightmare with an attractive covering, like a sex-gorged teen movie. This is where most everyone wants to be. This is what people wish for during the week. This is the telos of nine-tenths of the industrialized world. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12).

What is depth? It seems man is spiritually crafted to smell out superficiality; and so many are bursting at the seams with a suffocating sense of revulsion towards what they see that they surrender themselves to the cycle by choosing the insulating possibilities the cycle itself offers. The popular form is the drink. Alcohol negates the pains of consciousness by virtually negating consciousness itself, leaving the narcoleptic remainders in a cloudburst of sillyfaced emotions. There is a danger in life running too fast, lest it slip by us. In our nihilistic times, we're constantly looking forward to a future without a face -- simply because the present is otherwise too boring, too irascibile, too farcical, too unbearable. Too repetitive. Indeed, the sense of farce hides behind repetition. The world is too absurd when it rings hollow, and precisely here is when we're most adept at hearing God screaming for our attention behind our earthsick nerves. But too often our bondage to the attention and acceptance of others prevents us from consummating the deal. Man is an animal so deep in social bondage that he would choose unhappiness with the mask of happiness over happiness without a mask. Ironic a society openly reproaches prostitution. We're all whores to each other.

What is depth? An escape from routine. An embrace with the new. What is it that prevents this? Our daring. Unwillingness to crucify the boundaries of our comfort. There is probably nothing more antithetical to keeping life alive than an absolute value for comfort. "The secret of realising the greatest fruitfulness and the great enjoyment of existence is to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius!" -- Nietzsche