choice

i liked a lot how D&K identify "choice", or decision-making, as a burden in our postmodern age.

in my own life, i have felt this distinctly. even from what to order at a restaurant, every choice presents itself as a dilemma. in contrast, there are people that seem to not have much trouble at all making a choice, strongly subscribing to some framework which lets them choose the "right" option with certainty. Or some people, who seem to be so in tune with what they want, that they can always gun for that, if nothing else.

myself, however, i have neither of those things. i do not subscribe to some strict framework that dictates how i should life, nor do i strongly feel my desire to do something. perhaps, i am part of the other group of people, who are drowning in this sense of 'whatever'.

and certainly, this 'whatever' is an issue. it presents a barrier to meaning. but what is the solution?

my approach is to not invest too deeply in those decisions. it is not that one choice is necessarily more meaningful than the other. i'm sure there are ways to make it so one does carry more meaning, and occasionally, i practice those methods, such as viewing a decision as being symbolic. however, i find that ultimately, everything that we do, we can view as a part of some grand cosmic whole. we are guided by the circumstances which we are placed into.

meaning in our lives does not come from making the right choice at every point. if you believe it does, then if you ever make the wrong choice then you will agonize over regret. meaning in our lives also does not come from blindly chasing after what you think you "want". there is always another thing to want. human greed knows no bounds.

then where does meaning come from?

life is only ever experienced as what is before us. what is plain before us. not our understanding of a situation, our various prejudices, nor in some distant divine. divinity is revealed before us in every moment of experience, but we miss it, because we are not truly "present".