Who cares, if the universe doesn’t?
There are some who say the universe does not care about us.
It’s too big, too indifferent; too busy doing universe stuff.
I think they are right. The big “it” does not care.
While this may be a sobering realisation at first, it comes with great potential.
Take a look around
If we take a look around, we see that the universe allows some weird stuff, right?
Sadly, “it” does not seem to favor what we call good over evil.
We can’t pinpoint a built-in moral or value system, like us humans have.
The universe seems to support what we call love as much as hate.
Every act that ever happened was enabled by this thing.
The universe supported Mandela, Hildegard von Bingen, and Michelangelo.
But it also supported Mao, Hitler, and some other murderous psychopaths I don’t even want to mention.
What we see as good, bad, ugly, or terrific is of no value to the universe. It does not care for what we create as humans. It just provides the canvas and colours for however we want to paint our lives
Just look around… everything there is can exist, like it or not.
So who cares then, if the universe does not?
Two big decisions…
We care. Or, we can choose to care. We can also choose to not care.
I think two of the biggest conscious decisions we can ever make are how to explore and answer these questions for ourselves:
Is the universe a friendly place?
And is human nature good by design?
There is no universal truth, for the question of whether there is universal truth only exists for us humans.
This is up to you to choose. And the choice you make will determine how you will see. You can choose that humans are, by design, bad. This is a possible thing to assume. Your choice.
For the universe, there is just stuff happening outside any words, logic, causal effects, fairness, and so on. For us humans, this is different. But neither choice is truer by universal law.
Both choices have consequences in the way you act in your world.
For a long time, I assumed humans were bad. I thought everyone was out to get me. I had to stay smart and prepared to prevent people from taking advantage of me. I learned this from one of my important early caretakers, who always said: “Marvin, 95% of humans are organic trash!”
Ouch!
A note on healing
Our early experiences and traumas of course play into how we currently see the world.
If you experienced a whole lot of sh*t in your life, your systems are on guard. Highly likely, you project danger everywhere. You involuntarily see what could be a treat as a potential threat.
But no matter what, there is a chance to reclaim choice in how you are going to see.
You may require some deal of trauma work or healing to get there. And once you make a conscious choice, you might realise what actually stands in the way of embodying this.
So this is a continuous process, not a one-off choice.
Ultimately, I think we owe it to our being to not be run by the bad things we could not change…
…but choose the parameters we want the rest of our lives to unfold in.
Because why would you consciously want to live any differently?
Why wouldn't you want to do the work and expand your life forever?
And we will be supported by life, just as everything you see and know is supported.
Choose to care…
From these two core decisions, we can use this Universal Indifference to shape our reality.
While the universe itself does not seem to care nor favor any “thing” over another, this very same mechanism enables you to choose. You can choose to care. And what you want to care for. We can pick our so-called battles. For no apparent reasons, we can declare our involvement with whatever we want, and get to work.
The universe does not care for your
Personal story
How much or little you suffered
Triple college degree
Experience, race, gender
Political leaning
I like picturing what we call “universe” here (and could probably be called many other things) as a completely indifferent “thing” that has no intrinsic wants. However, it provides the possibility for all kinds of human desires to be expressed. This is not some Law of Attraction stuff. All we need is to look around and see what is all made possible.
And it works for all, not just for some. If you choose it to. You can also choose that it does not and that you are powerless. You will find plenty of proof for whatever you chose. You can also choose to think that you are too inhibited to choose. It works. I did this for 25 years.
When in doubt
I sometimes apply a little trick when I doubt myself.
When I think I can’t do something, I call to mind a thing that annoys me. This used to be sugary drinks being sold to children. I don’t like this. Bah. I think it should not be. But that does not help me, because the universe does not care about my dislike and enables such businesses.
Here is what I tell myself instead:
Well, if these people can create addictive products and do well doing so, I can probably start a new workshop format I have never tried. If oil companies are universally allowed to dig into the rainforest, maybe I will be supportive by taking my services to businesses.
The point is not to be driven by anger here. You don’t want to be an against-something person. The idea is to get some perspective and realise that you can do what you want, especially if you have good intentions for the world.
So, do you want to do the work and expand your life forever?