Esse Quam Videri
To be, rather than to seem.
We live in a world of seemers, slobbing for approval and attention, using anyone and everyone as a stepping stool to seem a way that they are not. We all do it sometimes, we are all full of fancy excuses for why we need to do this or that to seem one way or another, for a reason here and reason there… because the system… because reward structures… because my income… the truth is, because we are weak, cowardly, and lack vision. We most certainly live in the presence of wolves, and to survive must be as wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove. To win, it is this seemingly contradictory tension we must carry with an ever increasing brave maturity. To win, we must Hold the Tension; we must Be Vast.
Our modern inclination to seem in times that call for self, in times that call for us to ascend toward our core being have led us down the slave's path. Yes, seeming will roll out the red carpet where being takes the courage that prefers the obstacle as the way. Yes, seeming will have the trim and trappings of wisdom, the fanfare and accolades of gatekeepers and gaslighters alike. The halls of seeming are lined with friends, family, etc. Fuck-em. Go west, young man. Leave the safety of home, forge a new way. Become ungovernable.
You are the King or Queen of your life, and as royalty, we must all be decisive and final with our confident convictions. We must all quiet the voices nerfing our callings into the neat little playthings of their fear and rigid boxes. “Not that way.” “Not like that.” “Softer.” “Safer.” “Nicer.” “More like the rest.” “That’s not how it’s done around here.” “More Palatable.” “People won’t understand.” “What will people think?” “What will people say.” While we should be kind to these voices, for they don’t even know what they are doing, and we have done the same to another, we also should refuse the known comforts of their siren of seeming and embrace the unknown that comes from our innate being. We should move by the spirit that forms nations and moves mountains, the spirit that dared declare independence from and Empire from which the sun never set.
Whatever mess you are living in, it is because someone refused self and surrendered to seeming. Someone tried to fit in when they needed to stand out. Someone wanted the easy way, when the hard one was far more fulfilling.
The armour of Saul is a death sentence for every David. Adorn it, and you end up like the rest, the masses who abandon self for seeming. Oh, that it would be so valiant, being crushed by the awesome might of a giant, but no, we aren’t that brave. Instead of glory, the death that comes for the modern man is by fear and comfort… by abandonment of purpose… meaninglessness, loneliness, regret, envy, and jealousy. Yes, the person who wants you to win more than any other, the fanciest, most prominent one who has “been there” and “done that” will offer you the poisoned apple. This is the way of every world-changing calling. ESSE QUAM VIDERI.
"To the extent things are the way they shouldn't be we are drowing in someones cowardance. Of others, of ourselves. We reap as we sow. Sow seeming, reap sameness. Sow being, reap an adventure toward beauty. There isn't any other way. There never has been, and there never will be."