How do we use the elements our society gives us in a better way?
Tolerate them. That would be a good start, yes, short of threat to life, limb, sustenance or sanity.
Be open to different elements and changing elements.
Treat them as suggestions? It would better serve to actively engage them. You can’t arbitrarily omit any specific element, because you will encounter others who have used and even based their life on the thing you chose to ignore.
Your natural self has a creative urge. Another name for the natural self could be demiurge, or if you prefer the urge, and just as a box of crayons tends to make many kids want to color on any paper they can get, why not colour your own view of the world?
Or grown ups. Indeed, some grown-ups don’t lose touch with that urge.
One of my friends said that he used to get mad because people did various things, but he realized they couldn’t help it and he relaxed. Most people can’t help it, don’t even deliberately choose it, wouldn’t know how to choose if they were told to, but let’s look at the process I’m describing. Take one element of society, the social paradigm, any one, you pick. Perhaps gender role? Good element or too touchy?
Nurse? Soccer mom? Ah, no pre-constructed roles. Those are already completed pictures.
Maybe the Cougar? A woman who likes younger men. Indeed, I can use the concept of cougar. Older woman attracted to younger man. Now each of you consider this person. Come to think of it, nurse and soccer mom would work well also, so whichever you choose. You already know what people in general see that element as being, but imagine it’s a crayon colour. It doesn’t matter what other people would make green, what would you personally make the colour green?
I did choose green! But a marble green for the young man. Hot pink for the older woman. The crayon is entirely neutral until it gets in the hand of the child, and the child uses it according to how they feel green should be used. How should cougars be used in building a world view? How should soccer moms be used? For me, cougar and older guy have the same use, different shades of the same colour, but maybe yours is a more creative use than mine? Cougar = Hugh Heffner to my point of view.
I went dancing with some friends and a young man did his best to pick me up. I guess he thought I was a cougar. There are guys who don’t see older women as any less attractive, potentially the opposite actually.
So treat societal elements as crayons to paint your world view? Yes, indeed.
The soccer mom to me is helpful. They help the team of boys learn good sportsmanship. Ah, so soccer mom could be like a black crayon, used to define a lot of things, yes?
The nurse is helpful too but sort of supportive of whatever the doctor and patient require. Ah, I see nurse as an exotic colour, can have nurse practitioners as well, and people nursing loved ones at home. What about stay at home dad?
Stay at home dads are browns and greys, earth colours, base colours. So being a rarer colour it is in a way one of the more interesting. Good colors, no?
Moms are lighter base colours.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~