A Matter of Perspective
These few days I could not stop smiling.
I used to enjoy setting traps to catch rabbits. Most of the thrill lies in the planning stage, the set-up process and the anticipation! But I always let go of all the rabbits that I caught.
Later I felt that my strange hobby was rather meaningless so I moved on to what I thought was greater things. However, sometimes the thrill of catching rabbits would return to me and voices in my head would occasionally urge me to return to the 'good old days' of catching rabbits. So I was rather torn in two directions.
My solution was to continue catching rabbits, but I would do so only half-heartedly. A part of me wanted to relive the thrill and its concomitant happiness when I would catch rabbits. Perhaps this urge was sugar-coated with the bias of nostalgia, but the urge was strong nevertheless. However, in response a stern voice in my head would admonish me, telling me it no longer made sense and logically speaking, I should be moving on.
Eventually that stern voice began to grow stronger and began to make more sense. So I stopped. But it turns out that a rabbit is on its way into one of the traps that I had set a few months ago! Straight away I return to the dilemma that had been bugging me. What do I do now? Should I remove the trap? That would lead me clearly in one direction. Or should I catch the rabbit? Even if I catch the rabbit, what shall I do with it? Shall I let it go or shall I eat it, for once.
Since I had been smiling so much I knew the answer was already within me although sometimes I would tell myself otherwise. It was all a matter of perspective actually. If I can honestly acknowledge to myself what I had been feeling, things can become a lot easier.
I used to enjoy setting traps to catch rabbits. Most of the thrill lies in the planning stage, the set-up process and the anticipation! But I always let go of all the rabbits that I caught.
Later I felt that my strange hobby was rather meaningless so I moved on to what I thought was greater things. However, sometimes the thrill of catching rabbits would return to me and voices in my head would occasionally urge me to return to the 'good old days' of catching rabbits. So I was rather torn in two directions.
My solution was to continue catching rabbits, but I would do so only half-heartedly. A part of me wanted to relive the thrill and its concomitant happiness when I would catch rabbits. Perhaps this urge was sugar-coated with the bias of nostalgia, but the urge was strong nevertheless. However, in response a stern voice in my head would admonish me, telling me it no longer made sense and logically speaking, I should be moving on.
Eventually that stern voice began to grow stronger and began to make more sense. So I stopped. But it turns out that a rabbit is on its way into one of the traps that I had set a few months ago! Straight away I return to the dilemma that had been bugging me. What do I do now? Should I remove the trap? That would lead me clearly in one direction. Or should I catch the rabbit? Even if I catch the rabbit, what shall I do with it? Shall I let it go or shall I eat it, for once.
Since I had been smiling so much I knew the answer was already within me although sometimes I would tell myself otherwise. It was all a matter of perspective actually. If I can honestly acknowledge to myself what I had been feeling, things can become a lot easier.
posted by darren at
7:03 pm
5 Comments:
Thought you had just said it yourself. The 'catching rabbit act' is meaningless. So you prefer people to tell you it's meaningless, or you want to discover it yourself?
By
Anonymous, at Monday, December 19, 2005 11:43:00 pm
What I am trying to say is that on one hand catching a rabbit seemed meaningless because I did not appear to achieve anything, etc. On the other hand, it to me and me alone appears to be fun and I enjoy it. So does that mean catching rabbits, to me at least, is not entirely meaningless?
How do we judge the value of a particular activity? How do we determine if it's worth doing or not? Is it enough if we enjoy it, even if others may think it's some useless activity?
By
darren, at Monday, December 19, 2005 11:52:00 pm
If you are enjoying it and benefiting from it (somethings you will enjoy doing, but do not bring you any benefits, if you know what I mean), does not bring harm to others (which coincides with the principle: do not build your happiness on others' pains), go ahead! Most people will support you and give you their blessings.
By
Anonymous, at Tuesday, December 20, 2005 12:23:00 am
yah i am thinking about it and i think there are always some guidelines we can consider:
1) it is good to strike a balance between what is 'useful' (rational thinking) and what is enjoyable (more emphasis on feelings alone). on one hand there is no point in doing something which seems useful and everyone is doing if we find it repugnant. on the other hand we need to constantly evaluate if what we are enjoying is really the best thing for ourselves. I think the important thing is to be always asking, always evaluating and keeping our eyes open and maintaining our awareness of ourselves.
2) Our mindsets change over time. What seemed wonderfully fun and magical in the past may have lost its magic now because we have changed. We may no longer find something as fun, or meaningful. Yet we still seek to reproduce the feelings of the past. Our memory of the past will remain constant. Problems arise when we try to look for that magic. Sometimes we must accept that it will be impossible to ever relive that magic again.
Is it a consolation or a curse that those feelings will remain in our memory? It can be both, it depends on how we handle them, of course.
3) What is 'good' or 'meaningful' for someone else, or even everybody else, is not necessarily 'good' or 'meaningful' for ourself. Everybody is different and has their own optimum aptitude, interests, context and personality. Even the exact balance I mentioned in 1) will differ from person to person.
Lastly, yeah, you mentioned the harm principle / neighbour principle, which I agree with. It's quite bad if I hurt the rabbit.
By
darren, at Tuesday, December 20, 2005 12:44:00 am
The so-called principle is I anyhow say one lah. Like that everyone shd be vegetarian liao. But I'm not a vegetarian.
By
Anonymous, at Tuesday, December 20, 2005 1:01:00 am
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