Most of us I think would agree with the following two basic observations about us and the world we live in.

First, we all live in the same world, we are all part of the same reality, and this reality is understood differently, is experienced differently by different people.  And these differences in understanding can be extreme.  We understand and go about our lives in different ways, and the reality we live in can accommodate all these very different ways of engaging with it.  It is within the context of these particular modes of engagement with the world that we ascribe meaning to and pursue our lives and actions.  I do not intend this basic observation to be construed as an argument for relativism, but rather as a statement of common human experience –  based on our experience about us and the world we live in.  It is the realization that we might as well have been in someone else’s shoes, leading their way of life, perhaps very different from our own.  This observation gives rise to an uneasy feeling and questions: How am I to find my way around in a reality that manifests itself in so many different ways?  Are there ways of understanding the world that are better than others?  What am I to make of a life that can be lived in so many different ways?  Are there particular ways of life that are superior to others?

Second, our understanding of and the ways we engage with the world can and do change.  Our understanding and means of engagement are initially forged through our early socialization within our family and culture.  This understanding evolves and develops further as we grow older, as we get to interact with more and different people, acquire training and education, as we move and adapt to a new place, or as we embrace other people’s ways.  Such a change is not always trivial.  We invest a lot of effort in developing our own particular ways and the flow of everyday life hinges on them.  Radical change can and does happen and can involve a different perception of the world, concomitant with novel purposes, motivations, activities, and meaning for one’s life.  And, of course, efforts at change could fail.  This second observation, of the possibility of change, underscores the importance of the questions brought up by the first observation: given that change is possible, is there a superior understanding of the world to inform the way to lead one’s life?

These observations may sound familiar and trivial.  In practical terms, they are typically not taken seriously because of the tremendous effort it would take to change one’s way of life and everything that follows along with it.  And we have already invested a tremendous amount of effort to acquire the abilities to lead our current lives, and we continue to expend a lot of effort to maintain them as well.  But these observations do bring to the fore that we have choices in the ways in which we go about our everyday affairs, the way we experience and understand the world, the meaning and purpose we imbue our lives with.  Not a complete freedom of choice of course, but a wide range for sure.

Our cultures do not provide us with tools to even consider the possibilities offered by such choices.  This is not surprising, as our perceptions of the world and our actions are actively guided and coordinated to produce social organization and ensure its stability.  Exercising choices might well destabilize the social structures and networks that after all support and sustain our everyday lives.

In this blog I will cover topics that I hope will provide a guide and tools for how to place and orient ourselves in our world.  A world that can be experienced in multiple ways and can accommodate many different ways of life, a world in which we can change and transform our lives, but also a world where we have learned to prize our own received ways.