Can we imagine ourselves as a "busy bee?" A "devoted ant?" You know just a little being doing its thing? Unaware of the grander theme, just living life in the moment. A dedicated purpose: build the hive, create the colony, support the Queen. No ego. No doubts. No worries. Knowing that we are just one little being in the great sea of beings. One of a generation that will give way to the next generation and the one after that too. Can we simplify and live like that? Is it possible to get our heads around that? Living a simple life, part of a fabulous, wide-ranging, fabric of being.
OK. Maybe that doesn't sound all that ambitious. As that song tells us "Everyone wants to rule the world," but what if you don't? What if you choose not to want what everyone wants? What if you realize that the dream of ruling over others is a grand illusion? No sense in living a life with delusions of grandeur.
Ok. Maybe this kind of simplistic, simplified, thinking is impossible for Human Beings. We have big brains straining to do more. We believe, and maybe we do have a higher function kind of brain. Our consciousness, our minds are filled with ghosts, chimeras, shimmering visions, nightmares, guilt, worry, doubt, elaborate dreams, silly delusions, crazy-ass plans. We conjure up friends, enemies, grand narratives of success and failure. And we just don't know what to do. How do we apply ourselves? We often ask: "What's it all about?" "What is the meaning of life?" "What is my purpose?"
This morning, I am thinking the trick is to find your inner busy bee, your latent devoted ant. Pick simple tasks, maybe even mundane tasks, find a simple job, or series of jobs, and do them, to the max. Surrender to the moment. Damn the torpedoes.
The a.m. soundtrack - The Smith's "Strangeways, Here We Come." (1987). Are The Smiths the greatest band ever? Maybe. Is this their best album? Maybe. It sounds amazing this morning. Recorded beautifully. Lush, full, shimmering, intelligent, graceful, catchy, funny, powerful. A band at the peak of its form. I am of the mind that every Smith records is great. All the studio albums, the singles, the live tracks. Just tremendous work. Great r&r music. No false moves. This was their last studio album as a band. A fabulous statement. Thrilling. Beautiful. Rousing. One of the best from one of the best.