Caged Animal

You are not stuck in your circumstances. No matter how difficult it may seem to dig yourself out of the shit-hole you’ve been living in, whether figuratively or literally, the most difficult part of the process is convincing yourself that you can do it.

It’ll be terrifying, but change your life if you are not content. You’ll have a knot in your stomach the whole time. You’ll pace around your house on the brink of tears beating yourself up about how crazy you sound, but what is so crazy about taking your life back?

The only reason this twisted system works is because people fall victim to the age old myth that life is complete only once you go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, become grandparents. And on and on the cycle continues with their children, and their children’s children, as if humans are just another breed of livestock. The poor locked in poverty, and the middle class locked in false comfort fueled by indifference, both blindly forced to produce and consume and procreate without end. There are beautiful moments in between, but shouldn’t life be filled with more beautiful moments and less bullshit?

More spontaneity and less restriction; more creativity and less criticism; more passion; more thoughtfulness and understanding; more soul searching and learning and experiencing. Less pettiness and hostility; More humility and gratefulness to even be alive at all.

Our time on this planet is fleeting. After all, what is 90 years to a 4.5 billion year old Earth? And you’re lucky if you get that long. Yet we spend it hating our jobs, partners, and homes. Why should we feel bad about spending our short existence nurturing our own happiness?

We are the power that drives the madness of this machine. We are the blind that keep the corporate, self-interested wolves stealing from our pockets while pointing their fingers at the shorn sheep thrashing and wailing in the corner. We are the shorn sheep.

For centuries, we have been fooled into carrying out lives that do not add value to ours existence. The only way to break the cycle is to stop. Stop living a life that you don’t enjoy. Stop guarding a system that does nothing for you, then turns around and blames you for the deficit, and the drug addiction, and the death. Stop producing. Stop consuming. Stop justifying endless wars driven by men scheming behind closed doors. It is the oldest story in America.

Stop repressing your curiosity and creativity. Explore the universe through your mind. Figure out what moves you and go forth in that direction with gumption and tenacity. Replace your fear of the unknown with a wonder for the possibilities.

We are never stuck in a situation, only in a state of mind.