Behind the Curtain 2016

Jesse and I arrived early to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Party, beanbag chairs in hand, chocolate kicking in, ready for a good time. Making a quickie taco run, we talked about the alignment we were finding ourselves in. Even when things seemed off at first, like Jesse not having room for his carry-on, or Jesse not getting enough change back, things had a way of righting themselves to a point of being better than normal, like Jesse inexplicably getting bumped up to first class where he could also fit his carry-on, or the cashier guy calling back Jesse for his change and giving him an extra quarter.

At the same time, it felt like everything has been happening to more extremes of late. "The good things have been better and the bad things have been worse," we discussed as Jesse swerved through a red light in a situation that would normally see him bee-lining through a yellow.

As the conversation went on and my highness increased, I began to zoom out of my life, viewing it like a story unfolding to a character. Events happen, but it's a combination of the events and my interpretation of them that shapes how they affect me. That interpretation influences and is influenced by this grand story that I was zooming out to see from above.

We have a lot of creative license in the interpreting and connecting of these events. It seems pretty obvious that anything happening 'out there' has no real meaning on its own, but fortunately for us, we exist 'in here' and from the relationship of out and in, the meaning can spring in any way that we can make sense of it. Any of you who have listened to Terence McKenna know this is one of the ideas he talks about the most. The basic point being is that it's up to you to decide what your reality is, what your life is, etc. As Graham Hancock illustrates in his last appearance on Joe Rogan (a very fun high-watch if you have 3 hours), you can take facts and make more interesting models of reality than the ones that are commonly fed to us. Because at the end of the day, in Terence's words, no one is smarter than you. With such a subjective framework, we essentially choose our own adventure. It's up to us to make it a good one.

We return safely to the party, and are assigned to popcorn-popping duty. Or rather Jesse is, and the universe quickly teaches me the lesson that I am too high to talk to strangers, so I join him in the kitchen. By the time we are done popping the corn, the fashion show is about to start. We leave the kitchen only to see that a girl and a guy have made themselves at home on our beanbags.

"We're gonna have to ask them to move..." I say.
"They're gonna be devastated..." Jesse says.

Jesse and I looked at each other, and in that moment knew that there was no way we could inflict such horror on such happy people. The idea sprung, that it would be fun just to watch them enjoy the show in comfort, not knowing such comfort was provided by us. The kindness of anonymous others have probably made our lives better countless times without our even knowing, and now it was our turn to be behind the curtain.

Thus, the title of the next journey of our lives was born: BehindTheCurtain 2016.

The reason for this long-winded post is to try to capture the widespread meaning of Behind The Curtain. Not only does it mean being the architect of a better reality through 'selflessness', but it also means taking a break and stepping backstage in the play that is your life, and evaluating things from different perspectives. For me it also encapsulates doing work behind the scenes to get in shape, both physically and mentally. Earlier in this post I mentioned the dichotomy of 'out there' and 'in here.' I think we all exist 'in here,' which in itself is behind a curtain (or a cheese grater depending on the mood of the blogger). It often feels like the times we've been incarnated into are overly concerned with the 'out there'; the material, the outward appearance, the atoms. That stuff matters, but as Iro tells Zukko in Avatar, you gotta be at inner peace first if you wanna make the most of the outer.

Anywho, I ask you the reader to join me backstage, 2016. Life is art, and with the right colors you can make it a god damn beautiful thing.

Ol' Mary Todd is calling, so I guess it's time for bed.

Respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln