The world is one thing, right?  Anyone can see that.  People have different views of it, but it’s still only one thing.  It’s like the blind men and the elephant.  Of course, I’m not blind, and my view of the world isn’t partial like theirs.

But sometimes it bothers me that people can have such mistaken, such wrong-headed views of the world.  Not just crazy people, but people who should know better.

I am driving, and I come very close to a serious accident   No crash, but I am suddenly scared.  I drive scared, and now I know why people drive exactly this way.

I am very critical of my spouse.  Their weaknesses are so obvious, so out-there.  It’s all I can see of them.

I am very sad—-I don’t know why.  As I walk down the street, some other people seem sad, too, and the happy couple joking and playing seem so phony.

If the world is really one fixed thing, why does each changing view I have of it seem so right?  It’s as if the world validates and vindicates me.  Whether I’m a serial killer or the Dalai Lama, the world reflects back data that I, at least, am on the right track.

What I do about those who are not on the right track varies, but my sense of having a limited being-horizon seldom varies, and often my existence seems dead.

When Mr. Gurdjieff talks about making a new world, is he talking about a possibility for me?

Can I let in a little more of the data that make me uncomfortable?  I can’t let it all in, and maybe I don’t want to, but I can let myself be a little uncomfortable with another whose view of the world is not my view.

What will happen next?

Lou Gottlieb       10/19/2004