creativity takes courage

Alan Watts

“We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infintesimal hairline between an all-powerfully causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality. We confuse the world as talked about, described, and measured with the world which actually is. We are sick with a fascination for the useful tools of names and numbers, of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.”

“People worry about whether they have taken enough data into consideration before making a decision. But, if you think it through, you never could take enough data into account, as the data for a given situation is infinite. So what you do, is go through the motions… but worriers are people who think of all the variables beyond their control.

Choice is, the act of hesitation we make, before making a decision. It is a mental wobbling, and so we are always in a little bit of doubt as to whether we are making the right decisions, and lack a certain type of self confidence… and if you lack self-confidence, you will make mistakes through shear fumbling.

If you do have self confidence you may get away with doing entirely the wrong thing.”

Related links: 

https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/06/alan-watts-reality/

https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/10/31/alan-watts-on-death/