Is this really all there is?

mundanity...and more

Forgive the dramatic title.

As recompense, I’ll show my cards early here: no, this is not all there is. In fact, there is so much more. But in a time labeled “post-truth” and even “post-human” it can be hard to notice and internalize (let alone appreciate!) the good and the beauty that transcend the noise and confusion of life in the (perhaps erroneously titled) digital age. We have a tendency to gravitate toward extreme perspectives and hot takes. We follow and like political and cultural personalities that rile us up, chalking up our righteous indignation at the ignorant ‘other’ to a guilty pleasure. We voyeuristically revel in the sudden, often tragic downfall of our self-proclaimed enemies.

Now, let me pause and say, I am speaking so directly to this tendency because it’s one that I fall into, constantly. I do not claim any personal attribute that keeps me from failing so spectacularly in my feeble attempts to “rise above.” However, I’m also speaking about this tendency because I think it is important to understand at least one of the reasons why we (I) fall into this destructive path of self-righteousness and ill-founded animosity toward other people, often for spurious reasons. We crave more. More feeling. More connection. More purpose. More. This is not inherently a bad thing. It can obviously spin off into destructive pursuits, but I would argue that this tendency to be fully saturated in the innumerable joys of life is very much a part of how we were made.

The drive to crave more is a very legitimate one. Our toil is after all a curse this side of Eden. The commute followed by the meetings followed by tasks and inevitable complaints and unreasonable asks that culminate in a traffic-mottled ride home can encase us in a shell of depression and anxiety. We can easily lose sight of, or worse, the will to look for, the rays of light that filter through the static web of the predictable and the tedious.

The mundanity of life forces the question, the plea, the desperate search for more. Angry exclusivism is but one of many destructive paths to quench this cosmic thirst. Yet seeking the elusive more in further isolating from and demonizing people, scenarios, and ideas that make us uncomfortable is not the way to pursue more. However, it is vitally important - integral to the essence of who we are! - to maintain our pursuit of more goodness, more light, more life. We were created to stand in awe of things. To challenge assumptions. To struggle for truth especially in the face of failure and ridicule. Even in the midst of noise and the pull toward tribalism, let us shake off the despair and the anger and seek the resplendent; for after all, there is more than mundanity.