Three Approaches to a Messy World

How do you respond to problems & their potential conflict?

[ originally appeared on Becoming Human ]

Pessimism? Optimism? Apathy? Ignorance? Helpful? Disgruntled? Angry?How do you approach the reality of the world you find yourself in and the potential conflicts those problems may pose?

When we encounter problems, there tend to be three responses. Which one is your dominant approach?

1 — Pretend

Can’t we just talk about the positive stuff?

Why do people have to be so dark all the time?

The first common approach to the messiness, darkness, problems and their potential conflict within our lives and the world is to ignore them. You walk along, see the mess, & keep on walking; covering up the mess if it is necessary to harboring a calm, peaceful existence — even if that existence is a fiction. Sometimes, we would rather just be able to go about our day with reprieve from the chaos of the world than to have it impede our attempt at comfort.

Sometimes, you could say, it is just easier to be like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Our culture seems preoccupied with creating the guise that we have a sterile, nice, & convenient world. Much of our entertainment…