Keep on moving

Life is always in movement.

I found the above image on a meme drop by

The Starfire Codes

.

MEME DROP #328: We Are Not Here To Just Survive.

It resonated with me for some reason although I couldn’t quite work out why. Then I realized it was because the cycle wasn’t just about the horrors of the world, the doom and gloom broadcast at us to induce a state of fear.

It was a recognition the cycle wasn’t about the cycle at all but about the endless moving nature of living itself.

Life is dynamic; it is always in motion. It can never be static. Only death is inert and unmoving.

A constant cycle

We often find ourselves in a cyclical process.

We engage with the world, immersing ourselves within it in some sense. After a while this tires us, so we withdraw for a break.

Eventually we see the world again from afar as we recharge our batteries. This renews our sense of energy. We become enthusiastic again.

We jump back in, refreshed, ready for another round except this time we will do it better. We won’t become so jaded.

Distance calms us. It helps us gain perspective. Things don’t seem so bad. We temporarily forget the harsh realities.

Gaining distance rounds off the sharp corners. Once back in the harshness of reality asserts itself. Fine at first but wearing after a while.

The cycle feels endless because it is. We do this forever.

Life is movement

We often berate ourselves for not sticking to things. Why can’t we just stay away or remain engaged at all times? This question assumes life is static or fixed. But nothing is static. Life is always in motion.

Embrace the dynamism of life; understand it is a process not a state.

Part of this process includes managing the signals received from our nervous system and endocrine system, honed over unimaginable periods of time. They are telling us when to move and in what direction to go.

Our job is to learn to listen to these semi-disguised pointers and use discernment to know when it is time to withdraw from the fray and recharge. Call it intuition, call it a gut feeling; both are valid.

It works with anything

This cyclical process seems to work with anything.

Internet and social media overwhelm us, so we try to take a break. Same with television, especially in this era of binge watching. We exhaust ourselves even with entertainment.

News and current affairs are especially tiring. Traditional outlets focus almost exclusively on catastrophic events. Everything is shot through with fear and anxiety. Algorithms ensure we get more of what makes us stick around and click buttons.

Even people and partying. We all need a night in to recharge even if sociable.

The cycle of engage, get tired then withdraw, only to reengage further down the line is everywhere and is normal.

Accept the flux

Today’s great sin is believing in some static state we should strive for and then maintain. Worse, we imagine this as something close to perfect. We should always be happy, content, smiling, up and never down as if human beings can act like drugged sheep.

This seems an odd quirk of today, the notion of banishing the negative from our lives, and yet it is everywhere.

Low mood is abnormal and can be fixed with drugs to keep us permanently happy.

Social anxiety is an aberration requiring elaborate solutions rather than a learning experience to help us grow.

Boredom is intolerable so we must distract our lives into an attentional stupor and never learn to be alone with uncomfortable thoughts or to generate creative solutions to worries and concerns.

Despite being common, these are inaccurate assessments of how life works, and their solutions are equally wrong.

The underlying falsehood is they assume a static state can be preserved when in fact life is always in flux, it is forever changing around us.

We should remember the ancient Egyptian saying, that which does not move is considered dead.

A good life embraces the inevitability of change and makes our response a key part of the experience. It is the dynamism of life with all its joy and horrors that distinguishes it from death.

Once we accept the flux is normal, our focus can then move to how we navigate the unpredictable terrain rather than avoiding living or aiming for an artificial state of bliss we can never preserve.

Reminding ourselves we will not always be down or depressed. We will not always be nervous. We will get through the boredom.

We will not always be here because we will soon move on.

Life is always in motion and those who accept this live better lives, they can learn to embrace the vigour and spirit of life.

Nothing is static, it is all dynamic.

To live well you must be dynamic yourself. You must keep on moving.

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