Safety

I read somewhere that only in this century have people come to expect safety and security in life. Before the twentieth century, it was never a big surprise when someone died, or we went to war or a big disaster happened. Life just happened. Shit happened. Constantly.

But the last century, with the advent of "civilization", people started to feel that it was our right to feel secure. We had a game plan: The bad guys lose and the good guys win. Keep your white hat on, follow the rules and all will be well. Tit for tat, zit for zat. A to B to C.

We had a plan. A plan. A way to avoid the fear of the dark at the end of the tunnel. Safety. Or at least the illusion of it. That's important, the illusion of safety, because there's really no such thing. You never know what life is going to toss at you next. The second you start feeling safe, comfortable, secure, zap, you're on the street with no freaking idea what's going to happen in the next five minutes, much less in the next week or month.

There are times when I almost feel like I'd settle for the illusion, just so I wouldn't have to be afraid all the time. But that's a very dangerous place to live. The surprise and displacement when the illusion is revealed is worse than the worry of reality.

I think the goal should be (uh oh, here it comes) to live in the moment. To understand that life isn't safe, that you can't control it and you, we, me, would be much better off accepting that. Make the best of today and let tomorrow be tomorrow. In other words, tomorrow, don't take this wrong, but screw! There's too many what-ifs running through my brain. What if I forget all the what-ifs and just pay attention to what's now.

Security in insecurity. I like it.