“People often create their own sense of what matters in their lives” - 800 Words
During the course of an individual’s life, the choices that they make shapes their reality in a paradox in which their current or envisioned reality play a major role in determining how one leads their lives, choosing which paths to take and also which paths to avoid, in constant fear of sundering that which is important to them. People can choose to manipulate their reality for a myriad of reasons, some for convenience, and others for the freedom that it can bring. Not all people are capable of controlling their lives in such a way, however, burdened under the pressure of a foreign and dominant reality.
Ease-of-access penetrates the lifestyles of the majority of the modern human populace today. Case in point, the use of technology in nearly every aspect of an individual’s life in order to enhance or simplify their interactions, such as the use of the mobile phone as a means of communicating over long distances which saves both time and the hassles of physical exertion to achieve the same objective naturally. The same behavioural habituation is replicated when dealing with the nuisances pertaining to reality. Like a river, littered with displaced rocks and boulders, the constant flow of reality will eventually encounter obstacles difficult to overcome; the easiest and most time-efficient way being to simply navigate around the encumbrances as the need arises so as not to impede the smooth flow of reality which has already been established previously. Everyone possesses different experiences at various points in their lives, and as such, each individual maintains their realities by choosing which experiences to ignore, in order to eliminate threats to their ideal reality.
Freedom, the ability to make a variety of choices, unencumbered by the forces of a third party, is universally sought after by all walks of life. In humans, the longing for freedom is omnipresent, especially in the complex, ever-changing state of mind which defines our reality. Less is more; this notion holds true in the case of decisions which have an affect on the amount of freedom an individual has. Attachments to people or objects limit the options one can have due to the consequences they bring as a result of an antagonistic choice. The protagonist, House, from the T.V show, House M.D, is aware of this and limits his relationships with other people, allowing him a greater amount of indulgence when dealing with his colleagues and a more flexible work ethic. A reality created through blocking any development of emotional experiences, and from that, relationships, towards little or no other individuals, suits people with the same ideology as House and through not creating any sense of what matters, nothing does and freedom is allowed to flourish at perhaps the cost of meaningful social interactions. However, attempting to isolate one-self can be a struggle, particularly when vulnerable to the influence of another’s reality.
Reality formulated solely by an individual is difficult to attain when unavoidable factors such as the reality of others have little to immense influence in the constant shift of life. Oppression in this manner can be hard to avoid and a reality already established by one-self can quickly waver and collapse when confronted with the consequences of not conforming to the dominant counterpart. This is explored by Michael Leunig in his literary work, “Assimilation Blues”, in which Leunig presents a situation which has divided himself from the “Australian” community. Leunig is not swayed by the aggressive collective reality which condemns him as a “coward” shying from doing his duty to his country, however, although the same cannot be as confidently said for the numerous immigrants to whom Leunig refers to, that are constantly pressured to assimilate into the “Australian” way of life through changing their lifestyles, beliefs and essentially, their reality. Throughout life, an individual may change their priorities, and indeed their reality, although whether this is solely due to the thought processes, unique to the individual, is disputable, especially when their environment can play a significant role.
No matter what the motives an individual has; the shaping of reality through design is a significant part in the unique journey of life. However, reality is fickle, and without even realisation, the seemingly uniqueness of reality may become the clone produced by the power of conformity without the individual ever realising the gradual transformation. This is not true for everyone and those who are fortunate enough to be truly in control of their reality, have the luxury to live an easy and/or carefree life.
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