Things that matter—the essence of reality for all living creatures—are the things that, if we did not do them, we would cease to be alive.

We would die.

We live our lives consciously dreaming that the job, the car, the wife/husband, vacation, Rolex, 5 star restaurant blah blah blah all actually mean something “real”. They don’t. They are simply placeholders—symbols—for taking up the space that we used to use for things like gathering food, fighting off predators, building shelters against the storm…things that actually mattered because if we did not do those things we died.

How much of our daily life is filled with things that matter these days?

It’s hard to imagine what IS NOT meaningless about our lives. Religion, politics and philosophy are merely gimmicks we use to fool ourselves into thinking that we “matter” in the grand scheme of things. We don’t. Reality is the only thing that does matter and it doesn’t give a flying fuck about us and, besides, we rarely if ever see it completely. And WE CHOOSE not to see it by covering it up with outrage and despair and ecstatic joy and horrible disaster and on and on and on…because seeing it would mean we would have to see all of the other shit we’ve been using to hide it. We’d have to acknowledge that most of, if not all of, our lives are dramatic yet meaningless endeavors toward the exact same end regardless; death.

No one wants to face reality.

Facing reality would mean agreeing that what we intrinsically believe, who we vote for, who we love, hate, kill, nurture, persuade, cajole, argue with and otherwise have faith in is meaningless and useless. But that’s a good thing.

Facing reality sets us free from the artificial life we’re caged by, regardless that we built (and continually build and reinforce everyday) that very cage. Facing reality allows us to see ourselves without filter or artifice and allows us to realize that the commercials are wrong, that the social order is wrong. That Pepsi and Coke and Budweiser and Heineken and BMW and Chevy and Levis and Wrangler and MAC and Sephora and and and…

…that they are ALL wrong.

Seeing reality allows us to clearly understand that we can assemble with society (and carry out all those society things like a job and rent and snarky comments on social media) without actually “being” society. Without actually covering up and hiding behind the Brioni suit, the Chanel dress…the tough guy tattoos, the demure girl’s shy smile…

…reality allows us, no, demands that we see ourselves naked and alone on the face of a rock hurtling at a million miles an hour through empty space toward a destination completely unknown…and…not really give a shit. And that’s a good thing.

It’s a good thing because once we shed the artificial and are only left with the real, we are then able to truly love and be ourselves…with all the amazing and shitty that that means…and then truly love and “be” with others.

The only other thing that matters.

Believe. Go. Do.

~TrevorZen