Searching for meaning in everything one looks at is a trait most associated with schizophrenics. But I wonder if we should not all be doing this.
Through dissecting and analysing the universe at every opportunity, with the express goal of uncovering meaning, we are forced not only to pay more attention to the world we reside in, and to one another, but also to dive deep into our minds where we will undoubtedly draw a more intimate understanding of the universe, of nature, of ourselves and of humanity as a whole.
In recent months, I've paid this level of attention to the language I've been using and observing in others. There's been countless findings so far, though I couldn't tell you if these findings are the result of design, of coincidence, or of a madman seeking meaning where none was intended. Personally, I don't believe in coincidences. I think they're simply a type of design that we are unable to explain, and so we label it something else to feel comfortable in our ignorance. But even if it is the latter, me finding meaning where none was meant, I care not, for with each new anomaly uncovered, I take home a new lesson, one that aligns me closer with my true self and the person I was always meant to be.
One such anomaly is the fact that the word "shelf" rhymes with the words "self," "health" and "wealth." I've understood for some time that we become who we think we are. If you tell yourself you're a worthless fuck up who will amount to nothing in life, you will not recognize, and will therefore fail to seize the opportunities that you would have if you had thought of yourself as a person who can achieve anything you set your mind to. It is such self-belief that drives one to discover their innate perseverance, and to do whatever is necessary to achieve that which they believe they can.
I've also felt for a longer period of time that the placebo effect is the most powerful healing mechanism in the universe. If one truly believes that they're healthy, or that they are going to be, then it will be so. Just as if one is paranoid they are sick, or expect that because of their life style they ought to be, they will stir up within theirself the very ailments they expect they deserve.
Another lesson life has seen it fit to teach me, is that wealth is nothing to do with money. That same feeling one can obtain from having more money than they not what to do with, can be garnered through a simple perspective of gratitude. It matters not if one is impoverished living day to day, or sleeping in a trolley behind a supermarket every night. If they are able to disregard this notion that the world owes them something, and break free from the sense of competition instilled within us by society that leads us to measure our value through our possessions or social standing, and instead feel truly thankful for the people they have in their life, and for the countless opportunities before them that only life can provide; then that person will feel as wealthy as a king.
It seems no accident to me then, that "self," "health" and "wealth" would rhyme with "shelf." For just as we have the power to make the choice of what height we would like to put a shelf, so too do we have the power to decide who we are, and how healthy or wealthy we can be.
I have a theory on why stealth and elf also rhyme with these words, but if you are unfamiliar with the "machine elves" reportedly observed by many if not most who take DMT, then that theory will make entirely no sense. So I will save that one for a later date.
A while ago I was speaking with the youngest in my family, attempting to teach them moral philosophy and how to pay closer attention. I was asking them all why certain words sound the same (homonyms- which are very interesting indeed) and why other words rhyme.
When asking "what words rhyme with choose?" somewhat of a debate broke out. My brother and mother were making the claim that "news" rhymes with "choose," and I was adamantly disagreeing. "News," quite unsurprisingly to me, rhymes with "confuse, "bemuse," "use," "fuse," "muse" and "accuse." But they do not rhyme with "choose."
The children provided the word "booze" first i think. And the agreed upon answer as to why they might rhyme is that one makes bad choices when they drink booze. The next was I believe "lose." It was suggested that this rhymes with "choose" because if one makes the wrong choices, then they lose. I think, if there is true meaning here at all, beyond what we decide to attribute to it, then "choose" likely rhymes with "lose," because you can only lose if you choose to be in competition with others. Many more words were mentioned that I do not recall right now and that I see no need to think longer on, though I do remember that there was a couple I could find no good reason for them rhyming- one being "cruise."
But then my niece, Faith, let out a last minute answer. She called out "shoes," and I instantly realised that there was a great lesson here to be observed by any who choose to embrace it. I asked my niece, "how many shoes do you have?" She replied, "lots." I was of course compelled to rephrase my question.
"How many shoes are there, per set?"
We all know there is but two shoes in every set. One we call the right shoe, and the other we call the left. This resonated with me on a profound level, for I have been trying to make the argument for quite some time that there is but two choices in this world. There is the right choice, and there is the wrong choice. I do not believe in morally grey areas. It seems to be a philosophy invented out of necessity, so that we can all feel better about the choices we are led to make by society if we want to live comfortably.
Just as there is only one right shoe per set of shoes, there is only one right choice per dilemma.
We are very adept at convincing ourselves we're good people. We believe that as long as we are not going out of our way to do bad, or even if we are going out of our way not to do bad, that this amounts to being good- but I disagree. Being a good person is far more difficult than that. In fact, from my perspective, it seems to be the single most difficult thing in life. I even wonder at times if life is somewhat of a challenge, to see if we can amount to good people in this world which begs for the opposite.
Another lesson to be found in language, is contained within the word "responsibility." Say it out loud and you will realise it is simply the words "response" and "ability." We all convince ourselves that our responsibility is to our kin, or to our children and pets or perhaps even our employers. But, if we have the ability to respond, to anything at all, then perhaps we have a responsibility to do so, and ought to. That would make every problem in this world that we have any ability at all to help with, our responsibility.
A while ago I accepted this responsibility and I tried my very best to be good. To make no choices that I disagreed with morally, simply because society demanded it of me. During this period, I fell into financial ruin, but I achieved what can only be described as an elevated level of consciousness. What I experienced during this time is very difficult to put into words, though I have tried before. I will not make the effort here, other than to say it felt as though I was on the path to what so many have labelled as "ascension."
I'm not in that elevated level consciousness anymore. I haven't been for quite some time, yet it remains a great source of sadness for me to consider that I may never experience it again. But, supposing what I experienced was real and not some mental ailment, and supposing that making the right choice repeatedly is the path to ascension, and to leaving this world and escaping death, then is it not another interesting "coincidence" that we have named one direction left and the other direction right? We have but two hands as we have two shoes. Is it an accident that one of them is named "right?" And if the right (choices) lead to ascension, then is it an accident that the left would then lead to us not ascending, and being left behind?
I don't know. I really do not. Perhaps this is all me trying too hard to make sense of a confusing world. But, if in doing so, I am encouraged to make more morally correct choices, and less wrong ones, then should I care if I'm going mad? Or should I just clutch tightly to the invented meaning I'm interpreting from my surroundings? I shall let you decide.