Die freiheit ist nicht mehr frei

So just where is this blog going?

I've been posting some pictures recently and I'll admit it does make it look a lot more interesting, admittedly at the cost of making myself and some of my friends that little bit easier to stalk, but hey - Freedom is free no longer.

I've been writing about a variety of cr&p - from Greece to gurning, from Fascism to friendship and from Eggham to egg fried rice. That was a little contrived, was it not? And I hope that this variety continues. I suppose I shouldn't be 'hoping' as it's only me that decides if it does or not. And not you. Or some meta-blog-being that is the real phat controller behind it all.

It's all down to me.

I was in the midst of some random 4am conversation a few weekends ago when I someone else summed up my philosophy with the above phrase. This kind of surprised me somewhat, as I hadn't really looked at it that way. I blame society and other people for a lot of things, but I suppose my views about religion, love, and most things do come down to me believing pretty firmly in the value of taking decisions for myself.

So believing in nothing means that you end up having to believe in yourself.

If you don't believe in heaven or reincarnation or anything (I'm deeply skeptical about any of humanity's attempts to explain or describe an afterlife) then it's only what you do in your lifetime that counts - then you face the deep dark void. If you don't belief in god or fate or his divine holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj then all your decisions, your suffering, your pleasure and the sum of your life's actions can only be laid at your own feet. And can only be blamed on yourself.

Of course this is not to deny the actions and effect of others - I'm not, despite accusations to the contrary, a complete solipsist - but you should certainly be able to rely on yourself. That's the key, I think. Nearly all the people I know who are unhappy (or seem so) with their lives are those that aren't strong enough to not rely on others, and their unhappiest moments come when their constructs of other people collapse, or they themselves are let down. Nearly all the (seemingly) happy, or maybe relaxed is a better word, people I know are able to get on themselves. This doesn't make them less sociable - they just have the quiet calm and peace that comes with knowing you can fall back on yourself, with nothing else, and you will be OK.

Who am I writing this for?