The Ways We Pass By

Once they said of my path:

You’ll meet ocean of death,

And I turned back my way.

What I see ahead since:

Wild and blind path extends… 

Akiko Yosano, “Cowardice”

We move for a long time. Or stay long, thinking that we move. Or we don’t even reflect on whether we stay walking by our life or move in a purposive direction. And there is every likelihood that we don’t think by the very reason of missing or passing by the Ways, going round, avoiding and escaping them, instead of going straight. With no blaring about it, we move slowly by wild and blind paths and pathlets. NOT Ways.

But why do we avoid the Ways?

Most people reading these lines would probably ask at that: “What Ways? What paths and pathlets? I just live and work simply. For what reason do I need thinking about lofty matters?” Why do I need it if I could excellently manage without these reasoning-reflections before and will probably do without them in future?”

With no pretence for impartialness and giving my personal opinion which might be not so unambiguous and so correct for others, I'd like however to bring suchlike approach which is truthful one and destined for all other people. I mean here the forth variant of the answer.

If you could read the last line of verses given above, you are likely to understand what I mean:

“What I see ahead since: wild and blind path extends…”

Has somebody imagined a wide and bright road, tending to a beautiful vista with obligatory happy end? I beg my pardon in advance, in case you are one of people who made the very panorama in mind. In such case – just throw out this article. Don’t read the following paragraph. Just keep living in easy and sunny way you live now. I may even envy you a little bit.

For others, who live in real world, in the world, claiming to conform to the objective reality, I’d prefer to go ahead.

These lines are very close to some kind of description of the certain state – let me call it like “Groundhog day” (by the film of the same name), i.e. eternal Today. It is when yesterday equals tomorrow. No time. And what’s more – this tomorrow is gray at most. There is hardly some kind of sense in the “today” existence. It has sense only on condition of the sign “=” between Yesterday and Tomorrow. You must admit, the road, I mean the “WAY”, or be it said simply – “way”, it is always combination of time and movement. It is changes. Those changes which are mostly conscious. Because the fact that we choose a certain movement is a conscious action.

So, avoiding that the article turns in a certain exclusive philosophic-prospectorous piece, let’s continue on talking about “our working Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” only. What concerns non-working relations and the life itself, there will be a chance to come back to them sooner.

I’d propose to approach in axiomatic way to our matter and to refuse from oppressive and gloomy “unthruth”, I mean to refuse from the last lines of the verse. Let it be there are paths, ways and even WAYS in our working Today.

Why, how it’s possible to imagine the Way then? Not but what – the way is movement and time. So, it is also the final objective, surely. The final objective we aspire towards. What else? It is people who in this or that manner, but do take part in our movement to the goal, being intentionally involved by us or the decided on their own to take part in our movement on the Way towards our common goal.

All changes attending us in our movement towards the goal, besides time as it is, represent the result of changing the reality surrounding us. Who changes the surroundings? People, surely. At long last, it’s people who cause no matter what changes during our movement. The very people, passing by, together with or towards whom we pave our Way.

The surrounding environment does change. It doesn’t matter whether we want it or not, but we are slaves and victims of our surrounding environment, as well as the environment surrounding us is the slave and victim of ours. We influence each other. We are bounded together. But it’s important to cast light on the matter in advance. Surroundings of our Way and circumstances always attending every man in each action of him are completely different things. We are not slaves of a circumstance! Surroundings, people and their actions notably, a level and a vector of their participation in our Way depend on our wish. It is subject to purposeful change from our side. All the more so, if to think on it consciously.

One more small digression. When, in what time it’s better to judge about the set of our certain actions, about the period of time, about the result of our movement, as indispensible components of the Way? Would it be better to think on it in the early beginning, before we start or when the Way is over and all that could be done is done, and all events and results were fait accompli? To be honest, many things seem to be treated subjectively even in that case. It’s too difficult to move towards the goal with inspiration and firm belief, but without considering your movement as the Way. It’s difficult to think on the Way only in the past tense. Therefore, the Way is far of being only the set of historical facts by this. Our Way is our Today. Today which can and must become historical facts, but Tomorrow only. Otherwise, we take chances to move forward anytime, but only with a head turned a little only to the past aiming to estimate past experience, but always meeting the future with a hind head.

For that we’ll try to get closer to concrete scenes from the working reality. To bring more clarification and - even if comparatively brought - but more specifics.

Surely, we’ll try to do it, but in the next article.

And what about this one – let us stop for a while here. The last thought of “here and now”. Who moves by his own Way; people of what constitution? Perhaps, it’s optimists who plan the future of this world, realists who implement all of that by their hands, and pessimists who live in this future. Today is always present, Tomorrow will also be, surely. Optimists and realists cope with their job. And we do have forces to join to them, do we?