Awakening

Picture me yawning, stretching, and finally being awake. On ordinary Sundays, I would be at work right now, but due to this whole economic fiasco, my hours have been cut back. So today I slept in, catching up on what I didn't manage to do Friday night or Saturday morning. And in the period between waking up and making it out of bed, I finished the last few segments of a documentary called the Ring of Power.

As we wake up in the morning, there is a process that our mind takes. We move from being asleep to being fully aware through slow perceptions of reality. First, you may wonder whether or not your dream actually happened. You may wonder where you are, why you're so far on one side of the bed, why it's so cold in the room.

The world is asleep. There are mechanisms in place to keep it asleep. Things to eat, things to do, causes to support. We have just enough to keep us wanting nothing more. But this is all rationed out to us. While we sleep, our dreams are only what we are presented. Our dreams are limited by the irony of freedom. Freedom of speech is limited. Freedom of movement is limited. Freedom of autonomy is limited. Even freedom of self is limited. These are all pleasant, fanciful dreams that the world has, because although they are real in the sense that there is the possibility they could exist, truly, the dream is limited.

Like the process of waking up, individual by individual, the world looks at its dreams and begins to question. There are systems in place that make sense only because we are used to them, systems like finance, law, and government. When you look at these systems objectively, you wonder what they are, why they are used, where they came from. You start to realize that they only benefit a few people. And eventually you look at it all and know you're completely awake because you realize you're not one of those few people.

So. Picture me yawning, stretching, and finally being awake.