Thank you Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and of course Alan Watts, for this epic short film.

It is a film that touches on: Evolution, the nature of intelligence and the self, and the hoax of our modern success-centered lives.

It is a video meant to put us in our places, and also ask us to evaluate what we have built for ourselves.

Is this what I wanted to be doing?
Am I missing out?
What is my focus?

And hopefully we can, with honest answers, begin to shift our trajectory or maybe just dance a little more in life; have some fun, eat drink and be merry, that’s where I see the value in this film.

Universe got you down?
First bring some grace to your mind.
With this, ironically, grace to others is simultaneous.

A nicely shaped concept, attainable but perhaps unsustainable.
So slow maintenance soothes.

Say to yourself: This is what I want — cosmic comfort.

Tao friends unite, eat grapes, and be merry.
Otherwise this wine will turn to vinegar.

The sky is flat and beautiful.
The mind weak and excitable.
Life is short and stressful,
but not necessarily so, you see…

Venus is watching, as is Mars
And while, in your mind, the Earth may be one pixel,
You are without a doubt only one pixel in Earth’s.
Always remember that.

You are but one processing unit.
And yet you have a place.
One pixel in the screen.
So don’t muck it up.
Don’t leave your block burnt up looking like another rock;
It’s not so aesthetically pleasing.

What is pleasing, however,
is the gradual recoloring of your transcendental neighborhood.
For this you will need some basic self-affirmations:

I am a human and I own my life.
I create reality but am linked to everything.
Just and peaceful turns of the mind do not only benefit me.

The usual suspects of confusion, anger, apathy, and grief,
These guys can be allies;
They have scoped out the terrain.
Listen and learn how to proceed from them.
Their language is one of ugly sounds with beautiful meanings.

Delay their negation.
Immeasurably it pays off.
Don’t escape so fast.
You have to know what you are running from.

When you next update your reality, please install these files.
The desktop will take on a whole new look.
Because perception is reality; i.e. WYSIWYG,
What you (choose to) see is what you get.

I was watching this TED video on the difference between natural and synthetic happiness and found this great quote about choice and hindsight and how we are so good at being too hard on ourselves:

“The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another… Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others, but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardour which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice, or to corrupt the future tranquility of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759

The truth is, we really can’t know what to expect, plus as the speaker, Dan Gilbert, mentions we tend to overestimate the impact of future decisions as we are simulating the possible outcomes. A great example Dan gives is the new lotto winner and the new paraplegic, one year after their “events” take place, their happiness levels have in fact equalized and normalized. If you have twenty minutes, you should watch the video: here

If you don’t have that much time, at least consider the meaning of prudence. Prudence, from Latin prudentia, is the exercise of sound judgment in practical affairs. It is one of the 7 virtues, along with Justice, Restraint, Courage, Faith, Hope, and Giving.

Bonus word of the day: Sagacity, a synonym for shrewdness.

Happiness is a process that you continue to change,
in fact, you never use the same process twice.
All processes are defined by brain context,
which is defined by environmental and metacognitive context.

But is this all predefined by something beyond physical determinism?

That would be, in a word, mind.

Mind determines happiness in relation to brain context,
which is in relation to physical and metacognitive contexts.

In fact, it is your mind that sets the variables.
So much happens unconsciously,
it is difficult to track it all.
It must be felt and responded to as if in a movie.
One must imagine being in a movie that must continue to be entertaining for all those that are watching and acting in it.

It must be good for all players,
so it is your job to act your part,
whatever that may be,
and hope that you are allowed to move onto the next scene,
in which you are the star of the show.

☯: I used to be a taoist
but couldn’t feel in black and white

✴: I used to be a buddhist
but symbols labeled me at night

☆: I used to be a child
but biology chose me not to rest

♥: I used to be a somebody
but then of just-about-anyone I thought the best

∆: I used to be a liberal
but had great energy to conserve

⚡: Then I saw solar and was green to convert
but knew pollution could not all be environmentally cured

♦: So now I write
because the words are not set tight
before my pen rolls over them
the linear gift of a gem of my choice
the present my thoughts of profound and deep voice