Compulsions

When we say that in general we do not choose, it is quite a bold statement and not accepted by society. We have been taught that choosing is what we do. Society tells us that we have options and it is true. We "choose" according to our compulsions or, in other words, our compulsions choose for us. Sometimes, after repeated failures, we can intuitively grasp these compulsions at work within us and have the realization that there really are no options but to follow them, or not to follow them... This is where our first choice might be made: not to follow my compulsions. And it's a very good option despite the difficulties that arise because if I don't follow my compulsions, how do I do it then? . What can I do differently that is not the opposite? (by compulsion too).

It is a complicated topic due to the enormous number of assumptions that are at stake when I decide to "do something". These assumptions have a moral charge in many cases and one will say, for example: "It's the right thing to do and that's why I'm doing it" but later, what was the right thing ceases to be the right thing to do or is no longer interesting to me and I look for a justification to abandon that line of action and a new compulsion appears almost by magic and there I follow it and continue repeating actions and justifications for actions.

After giving this matter a lot of thought, I have come to a simple conclusion. Usually simplicity indicates the optimal, so I've followed it. I can observe my compulsions, which is difficult despite the elegant conclusion. I can observe carefully and with more effort, I can separate without justifications or condemnations.

This observation over time becomes more and more interesting because it takes the force out of my compulsions and I begin to see and treat myself differently. It is a separation that makes me understand myself from another perspective and I begin to generate responses that are less and less compulsive, that need less and less justification and in simple words, I feel that I am more coherent, or at least I am on that path.


ILLUSTRATION BY RAFAEL EDWARDS

Translation and editing by Trudi Lee Richards

Uncertainty

 

It can be argued ad infinitum that everything is true or that nothing is true, and that to “predict” essentially means just what its Latin roots - prae (before) and dicere (to say) - suggest: to say something will happen before it happens, but without any guarantee that it will happen. Even so, it is almost impossible to stop predicting based almost entirely on the fact that something has happened before and is continuing to happen. This is how prediction models keep being built, and how we keep adjusting our predictions about the climate and everything else we know to be cyclical, which curiously ends up being EVERYTHING. I say "everything" because it is easy to observe that we are immersed in a planetary structure that moves according to cycles and rhythms. And if we move beyond the planetary context and just look at what happens on the earth and with ourselves, we still end up seeing everything in terms of cycles and rhythms.

Implicit in the concept of cycle is the idea of ​​repetition, and everything that is repeated can be projected into the future without much problem or doubt. Thus we tell ourselves that tomorrow exists and also the day after tomorrow, and in a few hours night will fall and then day will come. This tendency to project keeps us feeling secure because it turns out to be relatively accurate; nevertheless we do encounter surprises from time to time, and then our certainties falter and uncertainty appears.

Uncertainty usually causes us problems because it doesn't fit into our predictable world. This year, 2020, is full of uncertainty, and of course there will be many predictions of all kinds explaining the reason for these anomalies.

The opinion makers and those who do not believe in them will be divided equally trying to explain, and to explain to themselves, everything that does not fit and produces uncertainty. The result of all this will probably be to produce even more uncertainty. After all, no one really wants to admit that it’s impossible to coherently explain all these rampant transformations. Unless you deeply study how changes (of all kinds) operate in the individual, in society and on the planet... just to begin with.

Personally, I am inclined to think that it is neither important nor correct to keep trying to explain what happens based on what has happened. Because if I examine things closely, these predictions are only correct if they are framed in terms of the general and not the particular. Earthquakes in a specific place can be explained by geological and geographical studies, etc., but that kind of understanding does not make it possible to predict them. Viruses cannot be predicted either, and viruses are sometimes not well understood. Not to mention social uprisings, or even less, economic collapse.

Those who dedicate themselves to prediction are still in the dark about the rhythms of processes. Anyway, I have my serious doubts about how so many experts in everything can be constantly adjusting their predictions and forgetting the previous ones.

Uncertainty is not resolved through predictions or explanations. In fact, I don’t think it can be resolved at that level at all. I do think that the "uncertain" can be extraordinarily positive, in that it can push us down untraveled paths, helping us gain in understanding and in true certainty, which I locate internally. If I only always walk the same path, I never have the opportunity to learn and to see what I have not seen yet, to experience new sensations and new ideas. I limit myself and I limit others.

On the other hand, if I see uncertainty as something that opens up new possibilities, I have the opportunity to see everything that does not fit within the predictable in a new way. Then without a doubt I lose my security and gain in internal experience. This is a good arrangement in a world that is increasingly in crisis, where the old explanations no longer ring true to the tired ears of a world that yearns for total renewal.


ILLUSTRATION BY RAFAEL EDWARDS

Translation and editing by Trudi Lee Richards