Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Traffic Jams and Wisdom

At times, I think Sartre was right.
I have no need for hot pokes -- hell is other people.

People. Wouldn’t life be nice without them? Every decision would be easy. No hurt feelings could ever happen. No one would judge what we do. No one would tell us “ought tos,” “musts,” and “shoulds.” We would be in paradise, living a life of Riley, and we could mix metaphors like that with abandon.
Of course, there’s no real logic that paragraph. It’s escapist thinking that comes around when I’m being pulled in too many directions, and feeling too many people making too many demands.

“Go here. Go there. Go out. Go inside. Go up. Go down. Faster. Faster. Slow down. It’s too blurry. You don’t care. You care too much. What are doing there? What are thinking now? Why aren’t you doing what I want you to do? Can’t you see that my way is the best way for to go? If you don’t think like me, you are selfish and possibly clinical. I’d never treat you that way. I’d do what I think you should do. Listen to me. Listen to my needs. They are more important than yours”

Clutter and noise. Noise and clutter. Who can think in the midst that? Who can find the directions a map? “Honk, honk. Beep. beep. Beep. beep. Honk, honk. Screech. Bang. Crunch! Look what you’ve done to me. Why weren’t you paying attention?”

It’s a traffic jam of people telling me what to do, who I should be. Time to find my way to a rest area. One by one, I drive away onto slower roads, until I am alone on the road that is me.

Then I can look inside and listen to my own inner wisdom.

It doesn't yell answers. It merely speaks what I already know.

−me strauss Letting me be

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm reminded of one of my favorite Charlie Brown cartoons. In one of her more thoughtful moments, Lucy says, "I love humanity. It's people I can't stand."

Isn't life just one long dance of human traffic jams and country roads?

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Dawn,
I love your description of life. I think i will remember that metaphor always. That one worth writing about. You should journal it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the encouragement, Liz. Maybe I will. There's always more right underneath the surface. It's just getting there . . .

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Yeah, that elevator that foes under the surface sometimes isn't reliable. :)

Tell No One said...

I just read this post tonight, wish I would have read it last night! I love it.

A whirlwind of opinions and tried commands.

I would venture alone down a quiet road if only my thoughts were good enough. I know in my heart they are, I just don't believe it yet. Isn't that silly? Having all of the answers and yet searching so hard for them.

I'm smiling today

Katrina :)

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hey Katrina,
Go down the road. Then your thoughts will be the only ones you hear. They'll be good enough.

Sunil Bajpai said...

No one would tell us “ought tos,” “musts,” and “shoulds.” We would be in paradise....

Blogosphere is a lot like that. We can all do our own things and learn from the outcomes.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Sunil,
Ah, paradise! I wonder if everyone has the same paradise? I wonder if everyone has the same heaven. I think I might write about that today.

I agree about "oughts tos" and "should dos." The blogosphere does feel that way sometimes. Sometimes folks take advantage of that and it doesn't feel like paradise then at all. We each need our own way of knowing how to treat others, don't we?

Oh Sunil, Thank YOU. You have given me so much to think about. Thank you for your wonderful comment. Please come visit again.