I struggled to get myself to write this week. No one told me what to write about, how to do it, or when to complete it. Where was the rubric?
For years, I had the outline for success, and that was the rubric. If I wanted to be successful, which I always did, I could simply follow the rubric that the teacher gave. With this, I didn’t have to make any decisions. I just had to work to complete the goal put upon me. I did this all for the praise that stemmed from academic achievement.
This recurring praise changed who I was. Overtime, I adapted to having my decisions made by someone else. I wanted to be praised for success, and I was successful at everything. My life was comfortable. I just had to do what I was told and everyone praised me. I lived in a bubble, until I popped it.
Many people never pop this bubble but go into adulthood living with their decisions made by someone else. They graduate from school to go into careers that treat them like students and live lives according to their schooling. They are told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. They are praised for their conformity, and find comfort in it. They are addicted to comfort.
But they are in chains. These people will do whatever they are told, even if it goes against their conscience, to be comfortable and praised. People as such are in tyranny to themselves. They can be pulled by strings in any direction if comfort and praise is the destination. They live an illusion, and don’t have any meaning or purpose other than perpetuating their comfort. Overtime, they lose the desire to be free, if freedom does not lead to comfort.
This way of life terrifies me. I can’t imagine living an illusion after popping my bubble or coming out of the cave as Socrates described. I am the philosopher in the light. Upon seeing true reality, I can’t go back to living an illusion.
The wisdom I have gained from truth can be a burden, but is liberating. I am burdened by the newfound value of my life. Being burdened with the understanding that your life is too important for someone else to live it, is the first step towards individual liberation. If you want to be free, you must build the rubric. The rubric is in your hands.