So... I have finally managed to start writing my second post. I have had some comments on the rather long period between my first and second piece of text, and I must admit it wasn’t really my intention to take so much time to create a follow-up post. It hasn’t been easy to start up my ambitious plan. I have been trying to integrate it into my daily workload. I would like to compare it with pushing a chariot. A little bit of power is needed to get it moving, especially if it’s an uphill push with a lot of friction and resistance. So what I did these last few weeks was rearranging the luggage that’s on this chariot and disposing the objects I don’t really need. I’ve also lubricated the wheels and I found some people who offered to help me with this pushing job. And I realized I might have to take a few steps back to guarantee a smoother start. More on that later in this post or the next one... I can reassure everybody now that the wagon has now started to move and the next posts will now follow each other on an accelerated pace. I hope to be able to produce two to three posts a week.

On the other hand, I’m not discontent with these comments. It proves that there’s a little bit of curiosity and anticipation towards what is going to come next.  I also appreciate the skepticism. This elevates the expectations and hence the pressure on my little experiment, but it also contributes to its chance of producing a bigger, more satisfying result. Enough meta-information. In this second post, I’m going to give a clearer few on my personal situation and the title and sub-title of this blog.
 
Let me start by explaining the subtitle: “Stories from outside of the box”. I would define the “box” I’m talking about as the set of explicit or implicit rules that society imposes on us and that, in my opinion, causes people to become some modern kind of slaves. Actually, it’s not really these rules that create the box. It’s much more our own mind that causes us to stay within the confines of it. To make our lifes a little bit easier, we have all accepted to live by the paradigm that is common to our culture.

The purpose of my experiment is to make some of the cardboard sides of the box visible and to show a set of new, more appropriate and healthier rules. It’s not that easy tough. It’s comparable to swimming against the current of a river. Once you see these sides of the box and you’ve realized they are just an artificial confound and you’re able to push away the top of the box and smell the fresh air, a lot of people will start trying to pull you back in, for a few fear-related reasons.

First of all, they are fearful of the unknown.  If it’s possible to push off the top of the box and to get out, it might also be possible for some of the things that are outside of the box to get inside. Who knows what might happen then! Secondly, they probably like you a lot and they don’t want you to get hurt or even get killed. If they are a whiteness to your discovery, there’s a chance that they don’t want to let you go. They are also afraid of having to make a decision. Once they have seen you disappear through the formerly unexposed exit of the box and they have come to grips with the fact that you might not be returning, they will have to make a decision for themselves. Will they also take this huge step into the unknown? What a dreadful thought! The alternative is even worse: they might have to stay inside of the box, knowing that there’s “something out there”. Conclusion: do not let other people decide on your departure from the box.  They will have to make their own choices.

In his book, Timothy Ferriss talks a lot about lack of money, time and mobility that cause us to not being able to do what we really want to do. He doesn’t really comment on the social aspect (only between the lines) and I’ve found out that this is a big issue for me right now. I think my comments on these social implications of leading a luxurious live might be my biggest contribution to the book.

Starting from our youngest years, we are encouraged by our parents, teachers and nannies to color within’ the lines of a drawing. And that can be taken very litteraly. But did you ever wonder what might happen if nobody told that kid to act that way? Would he or she keep on drawing outside of the lines? Is it a bad thing or a crime to do so? What if we gave that child a blank piece of paper and give it the freedom of doing whatever it likes to do with it.

Yes, we live in a world in which our acts have an influence on the well-being of other people and yes, we should – to a certain extent – make sure that we do not heavily harm our fellow men and women. But could it be possible that we have gone a step too far in our self-induced set of rules, values and norms? I would say: let’s found out!

Luckily, I’ve always had a few true friends that pointed me out every once in a while how ridicule some of these rules, values and norms are. A few years ago we had a collective epiphany, from which the concept Arominit (on which later more) originated. We noticed that most people don’t really know what they are doing with their lives or what they should do with it. As a kid, you think adults know everything and you assume that they know what is best for you. That paradigm got turned upside down instantaneously. From that moment on, I’ve tried to put quite a few of these rules to the test and I‘ve found out that most of them are not true. As a matter of fact, it’s in my opinion that a lot of them are even harmful to the individual and to society itself as a whole! That’s where the nickname “The Ramblin’ Rover” came from. I found this term in an Irish folk song and it defines a character that wanders around in the world and loves to find out the true meaning of life by trying out new things and living on the edge. That’s kind off what I have done in these last few years and that’s what I would like to keep on doing for the rest of my life.

Let me finish this post with some lyrics I wrote in the time Arominit just got started...

Heyo, what’s up with you? You seem a little narrow-mindend                                                   
Everything society taught you seems to have you blinded                                                                 
It’s right in front of you, but your unable to find it                                                                     
Although it’s coming right at you, you’re still running behind it
I know what you think of us, we look so open-minded
Destiny offered us a great deal and we signed it
An unstopable positivity is what keeps us bindend
We found what you were looking for, we found Arominit

23-07-2008 om 00:00 geschreven door Jamez