We’ve come a long way, baby. Due to
evolution, revolution, inventions, changed perceptions and higher thinking
we’re not what we used to be. We’re faster, more comfortable, more knowledgeable,
less fearful, and safer as a result of all the progress we’ve made as a species
and as inhabitants of this place that other brains have
labeled "Earth". We have the momentum to keep moving, keep
pushing, keep discovering, keep educating, and keep thinking our way to more
and better. In fact, right now as I'm writing this article, CERN, an organization made of world-renowned physicists
and other scientists, is actively working to discover other dimensions and to
figure out what our universe is made of.
As a participant in this whirlwind of
movement, I have a question. Where are we going?
What is the destination of bigger,
better, smarter, and faster? What’s the goal of living longer, colonizing Mars,
the survival of our progeny, and being grown in a lab instead of a uterus? Where
will all of that take us?
To be honest, I’m exhausted and I need
answers. In my book Firing God, I explain that the thing that finally led me to
question ask simple but fundamental questions was exhaustion. I was tired.
Tired of trying to be this, live up to that, excel here, improve there, get
better soon and be happy now.
As a fellow runner in this race towards progress and
improvement, I have questions.
First, what am I progressing towards, and
second, what’s the hurry?
Yes, we are progressing. We’re getting
from point A to point B more efficiently and we’re getting smarter and smarter,
however how far have we actually gone?
As a fellow patient in this asylum, I
have questions. Are we
absolutely sure we've progressed? Are we absolutely sure that we've improved?
Isn’t progress a move forward (or in some
direction)? Isn’t “forward” (or some direction) supposed to take you
further? If so, where are we and do we like this place?
As one of the animals on this planet, I have a suggestion. To answer these questions, let’s examine the usefulness of progress?
·
What’s the use of progress, if I’m
afraid to be an immigrant or 'minority' in America?
·
What the use of progress if I’m punished
for making decisions about my own body?
·
What’s the use of progress if my
worth is determined by my cultural, social or financial capital?
· What’s the use of progress if I’m
marching for my right to love whomever I want to love?
·
What’s the use of progress if my
existence is monetized and I'm used as a pawn in global games?
·
What’s the use of progress if I
can’t drink clean water, breathe clean air, and eat natural food?
·
What's the use of progress if I have
little to no control of where I am or where I'm going?
·
What's the use of progress if I die
never having had the chance to truly live?
· Progress (as we define
it) is perfectly fine, but only in the context of what's happening in the
'background'. If the patient is dead or dying on the table, how progressive is
a technically proficient root canal, the successful extraction of kidney stones
or the triumphant replacement of a lung?
· It’s clear to me that
what we call progress has moved us but has gotten us nowhere.
As a voice in this deafening cacophony, I have an idea.
Progress is really a distraction. Progress
is the thief in the night that steals my “right now” and takes my attention
away from the obvious fact that I am not separate from the background.
For a long time, life for me was a
fast-moving blur. Everything I thought and did was done in the name of
progress. Sunrises and sunsets came and went in a blur…all in the necessary
name of progress. Seasons changed in a blur…all in the revered name of
progress. Loved ones lived and died in a blur…for the righteous sake of
progress. Rights and security were given up and stolen in a blur…at the
sacred altar of progress. Freedom is imprisoned in a blur…as we sacrifice at
the altar of progress.
As a participant in this habitual and
mindless behavior, I’m taking a stand to cease this game of “progress”.
I will no longer be distracted from the
obvious. My attention is on the background and my gaze is fixed on "right
now". I’ve stopped running, so my vision is clearer. I can see that I’m
going nowhere. I can see that I'm already here. I can see that movement in any
direction does not move me from "here". I can see that progress
starts and ends where I now stand.
From this place of ambiguous certainty,
is where I ask the questions that further clear my vision and open my mind.
Seeing is what moves me "forward" not progress.
Openness is what
expands my possibilities, not progress.
Learning is what gets me from
"A" to "B", not progress.
Seeing, openness and learning
require the background, they don't exclude it.
Yes, evolution, revolution, higher
thinking and discovering other planets and scientific models is movement, but
we’re not going anywhere, and I refuse to live and die on this "table" while celebrating
and promoting what we currently call “progress”.
My refusal has compelled me to participate more fully in my
community through volunteering at nonprofits and on committees. My refusal involves me speaking my mind even when protocol,
etiquette and job security say I “shouldn’t”.
But most significantly, my refusal involves telling the very hard truth about me to me.
Now I can put up my tired feet, rest, live and die.
No progress required.
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