Allegory of the real world...

Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of the cave entrance, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to seeing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.

Today I learnt something fundamental, never ever live in your own reality. Many of us go through life attaining, sustaining, and obtaining things because we believe that we deserve things, people, events in general. However so much of what we are given is due to other peoples perception of us, of our creditworthiness, our references, our job history, it is never as simple as we think.

I am as many people know a person who refuses to budge on this rule in my life, I simply don't like feeling that someone or something can be held over me. This might be because very little has been given to me, I have always been told that I have to maintain a grade point average or excel at something to earn something so I don't take gaining anything easily. I am notorious for being that one person who won't talk up to people, won't embrace cocktail talk or gossip with just anybody.

But today I realized that it is necessary in this life, in this society to maintain at least some level of reverence to other people perception of you to get anywhere in life. By anywhere I mean where society wants you to be, in a spot where you will be comfortable enough even if you don't really want to be there.

I say this because today I got extremely worked up over something that is not my reality and has never been my aspiration of MY reality. I wanted an opportunity that was not fully mine, I was sitting in the cave and suddenly I forgot that I was there and became rather dazed by the very shadows I knew where shadows. I forgot that I am not chained to anything, that I was there for an opportunity not a lifetime of staring at the shadows.

Just a short time ago I freed myself from this very cave and I promised myself that I would abstain from falling into the trap of middle moneyed employment when I am supposed to be trying to find something purposeful to do with my life...where that is I don't know yet but at least I awoke from the reality that I was slowly beginning to think was my own.

Plato's allegory of the cave has always inspired me to think of what it is possible if we can just think for ourselves and take note of it rather than seek others' opinions of our own thoughts...