Where Are We Going?

It is the drive to own that motivates us.

We are basically still animals - albeit with the special ability to be self-aware and rationally solve problems. The animal needs, as we all know, are food, water and shelter. But beyond that, animals have incredibly distinctive personality types that play off of those needs and whether or not they can be satisfied efficiently or effectively.

There are cases of chimpanzees in Africa that have begun using tools to hunt. This is not a joke. Documenting evidence has surfaced of these animals sharpening sticks into spears and hunting small mammals. Some of also begun taking shelter in caves. And what happens when one animal infringes on another's territory? Fights.

We fight because we hate the idea of someone else owning what we own. I believe this is our primary drive - to have things. They don't have to be nice, expensive, interesting or safe. They just need to be ours. And in some cases, ownership can be a beautiful thing. (I'm using the term ownership loosely - more so, I mean "having things" more than pure ownership). Feeling a sense of ownership makes you treat things well. Experts cite that a main reason for people littering is that they don't have a sense of ownership, of protectiveness, over their land or city. When we have something, we want it safe.

We treat our friends the same way. Protecting them from outside harm.

Of course there's a negative side (isn't there always?) as the need for ownership can get out of hand, can make one loose focus about what type of things to own. Friends, family, the basics in whichever form you can afford sometimes take a back seat to shinier, prettier, more impermanent things. So we have to keep vigilant of our own desires. I'm a big fan of not denying desire. But I do recognize that it can be fulfilled in healthier ways than most people tend toward.

There's a book entitled "This Book Will Change Your Life" that gives a 365 day, daily schedule of something unique to do. Each day gives something incredibly interesting to achieve. And they aren't always pretty. Day Two instructs the person - if they are so inclined to actually follow the program which is mostly meant as a joke - to "destroy something they love".

I was going to do it, but after thinking about it, decided it was just too hard. It goes against our basic nature to protect and own.

What would you destroy? Could you go through with it? Can we shift our focus toward wanting the immaterial-permanent instead of the material world that fades away? Are we doomed to be owned by our ownership?

I'm never sure where I'm going with this stuff.