Time passes so quickly it seems. Not but maybe a week ago it seemed that I was just getting ready to head back into school, getting my resolution goals set for the New Year. Yet now I am at the end of January and the time has flown by, as might the dark crow winging above. One small question I've always been curious about is where exactly they fly to? The crows that is, the time goes where it always goes, quickly in a stream of perceptions.
But that is beside the point, idle curiosity about the traverses of crows is not what I was meaning to write about today. Today I wish to look again at a thought I had toward the end of last year. At this point I want to explore further the leading lines I had put down for myself to remember. Last month I went off about it, which is fun to do sometimes, but doesn't really satisfy my curiosity. Let me repeat the first line:
Potential. That is perhaps the key word. At one point in my life I thought that all people were created equal. That is what I wanted to believe, my desire in this respect has not changed. Yet, in looking around in the world, it does not appear that everyone is equal. There are all kinds of strata differentiating people; social, intellectual, physical, emotional, imaginative. Such a list could go on to include any number of things.
However, the strata, which are readily apparent to perception, are the actuality of potential. The potential is the ability that people have untapped inside of themselves. It is often argued that people only use some miniscule amount of their brains, say 5 to 10 percent. While I do not know the truth of this statement, I agree with the concept.
To make a comparison, think about the artist who creates a vision on a pad with pen and ink. Now think about the person sitting beside them who rarely ever sketches and claims that they cannot draw. The artist will generally claim that they are mistaken, that said person could but they don't try enough. The point being made by the artist is that the other fellow has the ability to create art, but has not put it into practice. This person has potential but has not brought it into reality, or actualized it.
To try to bring this together, it is my belief that in all levels, we are brought into this world with equal potentials. Unfortunately, at this time, I will also say that this moment where we all have the same potential is exactly at the point of conception. Maybe you do not agree, that is fine. But think about it like this, when is the absolute foundation of the rest of our physical being set forth? During the first months, if not the first weeks of life after conception. It is at this point that the basic functions of life are set out in our bodies and a mistake here can magnify exponentially as we grow further.
Now, where does this talk of actuality and potential go? Here... everyone begins equal, and then they develop from there. Where the potential is made actual is where the differences come up.
And to tie it into the statement made previously, I believe everyone has such a great amount of potential. Even if you don't believe that everyone has the same amount... well, to be honest, in my more bitter moods I feel likewise, it should be apparent that everyone does have more potential than they actualize, perhaps even realize. It is this potential to which I refer when I say that 'youth has a great deal of potential'.
I specifically say youth, for it seems that if something is going to change it will be by the hands of those young enough to strike out against the mold to which our social norms try to fit us. Which is not to say that our true elders to whom we look for sound advice cannot change things, for such people already know the meaning of youth. They are the ones who teach us how to hold onto our youth as we grow. They hold this vital quality within themselves and to call them old would be shallow. Not to mention, ignorant.
Our potential is great. Humans have the capacity to reason and learn so many things. We can choose to help those around us and we can choose to hurt them too. Everything is a choice. It is like the phrase, 'If you keep silent in the face of oppression, you choose the side of the oppressor.' The choice not to do is a choice in and of itself. It says I do not want to be bothered, I do not care enough. I have better things to do. Do you? Do any of us? Can we care? Or are we all just inured to the sensations of life and the people around us?