Who Told You Dreamers Are Never Achievers?

Second official day of work today - just meetings, at the moment. Classes don't start until the 15th, so at this point we mostly sit around in a miniature reading-room-type place and drink coffee and smoke (well, my colleagues do). It's not so bad, as long as I sit near a window.

Anyway, today I found that there was a copy of Fahrenheit 451 in there. As I'd never read it before, I took the opportunity to do so. It's a really fantastic book. There was one bit, in particular, towards the end that resonated with me:

"'I hate a Roman named Status Quo!' he said to me. 'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said. 'Live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.'"
-Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

For me, that really sums things up nicely. We spend so much time inside our little box, our little private universe of neuroses and stultifying certainty that we never step outside to see that the world is actually a surreal place of wonder and amazement. We never wake up and think about the small everyday miracles that make up our life, the mind-boggling strangeness our species has wrought upon the planet.

Imagine, if you will, trying to explain the internet to the average Joe from the 1950s. Hell, even as recently as the late 1970s you'd get glazed looks in a matter of minutes. And the neverending press of forward progress continues headlong. In 30 years, imagine trying to explain dial-up modems to kids who might not even remember what corded phones are. And that's all on the technological level. I'm not even delving into the unadulterated weirdness that is the natural world.

Myriad forms, perfect natural geometries and symmetries, windswept LSD-shapes carved in the rock, it's all there. All of our dreams, all of our nightmares, our inspiration and our demons, lurking on this beautiful, fragile planet we call home. It shapes us, makes us, even as we strive to master it and reshape it in our own image. We swarm across its surface, busily wrapped in our little shells of meat and bone, forcing ourselves into obliviousness as to the wonder of it all, lest we be struck dumb with awe at the fragile majesty and overwhelming power of the world around us. We barely take time to appreciate the cultures that we ourselves create in response to the environment that contains us.

And all of the strangeness and wonder that surrounds us goes unnoticed as a defense mechanism. Who could hope to do anything if you actually thought about the vastness of our planet? I mean, the jungles alone are pure madness, to say nothing of things found underwater. Creatures that can swallow you whole? Essentially kill you with a thought (via sonar)? The world is such a strange, frightful place that all we can do is compartmentalize it and shove it to the backs of our minds, and maybe allow ourselves a peek now and again at the wonder of it all.

I suppose that's really the point of the quote. Don't take anything for granted, just because it's there. Enjoy the opportunities you have and make your own when you can. Really, life is there to be lived, enjoyed, exulted in. Taken by the throat. There really is more to see, to do, to learn than can possibly be done in a lifetime. So, enjoy the journey. Take time to appreciate the things around you, to open your mind to the possibilities. After all, no matter how old or young you are, you have your whole life ahead of you.

Later, flipsiders.