Search for Shangri-LA

Today's post has been inspired by my recent interest in the work of men like Graham Hancock and theories of lost human civlizations. It is widely accepted that the human race as we currently know it is at the pinnacle of it's progress and that our knowledge of the past has served all it's purpose in allowing us to stand on the shoulders of previous giants. What if we have missed something? Given the vast amount of time people have been around and the variety in communities around the world I don't think it is so outlandish to think that vital information or radically different world perspectives and ideologies could have been lost. Even if we are never to discover misplaced secrets of our past, sites like Stone Henge and Gobekli Tepe indicate that people have been sophisticated and successful in ways unknown to us. These mysteries should be ample motivation for us to try and broaden our horizons as much as possible, to try and create ideas outside of the mainstream. It seems to me that the concepts of the political left and right, the limiting scope of Capitalism vs. Communism etc. could all essentially amount to the micro, and perhaps it is a change in the macro which could provide real change and significant advancement. Technology would probably be the main front runner as a provider of the next leap forward, as the race for AI and maybe even the creation of cyborgs and the merging of man and machine has colossal implications for mankind. In addition to this, the shift away from Victorian like values and the fear of psychadelic and spiritual experiences will open many doors that have been rammed shut for years at the hands of arrogant politicians and religious leaders. The libertarian movement and mass education of the populace will only accelerate and move forwards as we all look for satisfaction and meaning in an ever more monotonous consumerist and quite narcissistic society. This is where the need for us to be humble comes into play, we must accept that we are nowhere near our full potential as a species and we must be honest enough to admit that the direction we have taken in many ways could be the wrong way. Our arrogance will only blind and hinder us and to discover the real truths we should not only try to learn as much as we can about civilizations of the past but also take this as inspiration and motivation to conceive of an alternate future, even if it seems impossible from the position and course we are currently set on.

Had a very enjoyable alcohol fuelled few days celebrating a close friends birthday, so naturally waking up after this I wasn't feeling my best. This is natural in many ways, what goes up must come down and obviously alcohol itself, whilst very fun at the time, is in fact a depressant. Hangover cures come in many forms but having only been practicing yoga regularly for a couple of weeks, I have just finished one of my most effective sessions. Physically, you can feel yourself sweating out the damage of a heavy bender but the real benefits are felt mentally. It is a wonderful time for reflection and being able to take a step back from the self medicaiton, intoxication or whatever else you would like to call it; is truly blissful. At times like this it can be easy to sit around feeling sorry for yourself and consuming copious amounts of greasy food but as is generally the rule in life, picking yourself up and putting in the effort for something more productive will always leave you feeling better. The duality of moving seamlessly from drunken antics with your friends to a much more isolated and spiritual experiene is almost amusing but the more I consider it, the more it makes sense. Making a habit of not falling into a repetetive pattern is key, the easy option is to sit on the sofa watching TV, but this will most likely do little to improve how your body and mind are feeling. The concept of a healthy mind and a healthy body being inextricably connected is, at least in my opinion, undeniable. We all need nights to go out and induldge ourselves, forget our worries and have a good time. None of us can pretend that this removes the responsibilites of tomorrow from our shoulders and instead of doing so it is far better to embrace the challenge. To have our minds in a state where this is appealing, rather than seeming like a chore, it is necessary to take a moment to ourselves, step back and look at the bigger picture. Yoga or any other exercise is fantastic for this, because during your mind must focus on controlling your body, your breathing and performing whatever physical task is at hand. Afterwards, not only will a sense of accomplishment leave you feeling more successful but also motivated to get that feeling again. Essentially I think the point of this short blog entry is that pushing yourself over the finishing line is always rewarding, but if you can manage it when you feel the least natural motivation within you, the rewards will feel even better.

Nostalgia is, for me at least, one of the most baffling concepts. Why do people crave for a time that has come and gone? Are we not constantly developing and evolving for the better? Many would say no. Change is undeniable and will never end, many of the problems in the world today can only be resolved if we move forwards, not backwards. We need new ideas, new technologies, new ways of doing things. Often we will change how we do something as soon as an easier or more efficient method becomes readily available, this is only natural. I find it alien that some people would rather live in the 1990s or the 1950s, and if really faced with the option, I doubt that many would actually give up the comforts and benefits of modern living. Some certainly would, of course; but have we not held on to many of beautiful things humans have created and discovered over time, we don’t give them up for no reason. Looking at the election of Trump, Brexit and many other major political changes around the world it is clear that we are approaching a time of change. These things may be good or bad, depending on who you ask. This blog is not used for political propaganda and so I will withhold personal opinion at this time, but it is undeniable revolution is long overdue. Looking at human history, we can see a pattern of social movements towards the end of each century. We live in a time where change is accelerated, the technological revolution has had impact like nothing before it. It would be futile to try and put the genie back in the bottle, we cannot stop the tides of change but we can certainly manoeuvre them. None of us can predict the future and the uncertainty can be daunting, but I don’t think we should let this fear leave us craving a past that is gone. We have the power to dictate which direction our species moves in. It is in all of our hands. The future can be better than the past, the future can be better than right now. It could get worse, but the chances of that are far lower if more of us look forwards and not behind us.

It can seem easy to get bogged down in the apparent abundance of negativity of life which we can discover on the news, on the internet and even in day to day living. I think it would be foolish to bury our heads in the sand and pretend not to see much of it, not only would this be extremely ignorant but also it makes it very difficult to come up with solutions to the problems that exist in our world. Furthermore, it is also insulting to the people certain issues effect, if we refuse to acknowledge the struggle they endure. With this in mind, it is necessary for news channels and media outlets to inform everyone about disasters and horrors across the globe because much of the time it will require an effort from a large amount of the world’s population to reach a solution. With a global population of over 7 billion people, it should not be surprising to us that many terrible things happen on a daily basis; as do so many wonderful things. A real issue for us is that often it is the negative things which are deemed important for us to know, as an atmosphere of austerity and fear is created by the powers that be. The scale at which this is done can be debated but I personally don’t buy into the idea of an illuminati or some other small secret society controlling everybody else. However, we can all see how powerful moguls have influence in a variety of areas and self education is a potent weapon against this. Discovering the truths of the world for ourselves is no easy task, as the misinformation out there is vast but a rejection of blind faith and a vigorous personal aspiration to be not be deceived sets us free from the lies and fearmongering. To be overwhelmed by the knowledge of wickedness in the world can be the easy option, to accept that things will always be how they are because it seems a herculean effort to make the smallest change. The burden to appreciate beauty and positives in the world rests on our own shoulders and in all of us lies the power to make real change in the world simply by rejecting the notion that we are merely a small cog that has no control over the system it is a part of. On top of this, if one was to decide that they can discover no more meaning in life than to enjoy it, we must be aware of the filtration and censorship of the information we receive. We must know that the world presented to us by the news, media and politicians comes through a specific lens. Imagine how differently we would all see the world if we lived a few minutes of the day in each corner of the world, from the perspective of a billionaire in the UAE to a starving child in Africa to a woman in Saudi Arabia to a British teenager at high school. Just imagine the variety in experience of a few hundred kids in any given school year, the highs and lows they experience could be so different day to day that to make a broad judgement on the experience of one child on a random day would be hugely inaccurate. If we apply this logic to the global populace, we can start to comprehend just how difficult it is for any of us to really understand the variety of the human experience. There database is enormous, so why are do we allow ourselves to be drawn towards and consumed by the negative? For me personally, watching something like a silly 2-minute video of a dog and an elephant that have become best friends can be a pleasant reminder of the sporadic and strange sources of happiness in the world which occur far more frequently than we would imagine in a time when we are constantly bombarded with horrific information about terrorist attacks and brutal political regimes. These things are undeniably important and effect many people but to let these examples of the worst cases of human nature dominate our view of the world is to allow ourselves to be deceived. Remember the things of beauty we experience on a daily basis, there is an endless supply of daily occurrences which pleasure can be found in, just because it may not be worthy of a front page headline and won’t pull in ratings for a news channel, does not mean we cannot enjoy it any less.

Why am I starting this blog? It's a Monday afternoon and I'm a 21 year old with nothing better to do. It's the middle of summer but this year I haven't made much of a headway in exciting or progressive plans. Headed towards my 3rd year and final year at University come September, there are big life decisions lying ahead of me. This can be a scary time for many people and as I watch my peers scramble, looking for the next logical step, I have to be honest and see that I find myself in a similar position. However, I would be lying if the uncertainty wasn't as exciting as it can be daunting; at this stage anything feels possible and the world is my oyster. This is the case for billions of people across the planet, granted we don't all have the starting position, yet many seem to get lost and can reach their middle ages before realising they have wasted their time, pursuing things they are not passionate about, spending time and energy on the wrong people. Waking up to this realisation at 40, and having to drag myself to work at a job I hate at 7am every Monday may be my biggest fear. Time is on my side but life is short and I don't want to wait another decade or so before finding my calling. I look around and see that the frustration born out of indecision and uncertainty can lead to nihilism and pessimism. This process of thought seems to operate alongside the philosophy of existentialism, which I discovered through podcasts like The JRE and listening to people like Duncan Trussell on the subject. It seems that the knowledge that our existence has come to be through the unbiased nature and luck of the universe, we have no innate meaning or calling, and it falls upon all of us as indiviuals to give our own lives meaning and reason. Something that can seem contradictory to this is the importance of others in our life, the need to embrace the tribal elements of our species which bring us together to use the qualities shared among us to create a better world for everyone. If we cannot learn from each other, who can we learn from? As an atheist I see all religions, as well as cults and the such like; as proof of the need for all people to come together to try and establish the paramaters for Utopia. A perfect world seems unlikely (and probably quite dull), but if there is anything we are as a the human species should be working towards ultimately, surely this is it? With so many variables at play, it seems clear that the more people working together, the better our progress will be, for the benefit of us all. In many ways I feel that the individualised nature of modern society is what holds us back in many ways, our more selfish attributes are romanticized and celebrated by our culture as we place CEO's, billionaires and the caricatures of capitalism on a pedestal. Our existence is finite, a blip in the history of the universe, but don't we all live for long enough to do something other than try to accumulate as much material wealth or pieces of paper as possible. This has become a simple and easy way for people to define themselves, and to judge their success by comparing their own numbers to other people's. It is one thing to reject these principles, as many people do, but by doing this alone what is achieved? Nothing. Unless something meaningful can replace it. There is no single answer to life that we will discover by coming up with the right equation and therefore it seems that we are unlikely to come up with one thing for us to do that will completely define and satisfy us. The logical solution to this seems to me to be that we must try and to learn as much as possible, from as broad a spectrum of people and sources that we can find. I don't think we should expect to wake up one day and the switch has been flicked, but the desire for constant growth is what will stop us from stagnating. It is futile to try and define ourselves as many do, by their job title or one of our particular passions; because we all change over time, it is within our power to ensure this change is positive by choosing the right stimulus. This is why I listen to podcasts, read books, read blogs, listen to music, talk to a variety of people and challenge the way I think. Furthermore, I believe this is why I have sat down to start this blog today. To offer my opinions, outlooks and ideas is to become part of this system. The internet is often blamed for a decline in human interaction but the reality is that it has connected us like never before. This first post has been a ramble and if you have made it this far, that's pretty cool, I hope I have sparked some new ideas in you and a desire for you to do the same for others.