Bukowski

“Some lose all mind and become soul, insane.Some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual.some lose both and become accepted. ”

-Charles Bukowski 

People always ask me what inspired me to write. Was it Jane Austen or Thomas hardy, Charlotte Bronte or Charles Dickens. Surprisingly, It was none of them. I’ve always loved reading books, got that from my father among many other things. He never had the patience for classics. He would always tell me that classics were meant to be read for school, for practical life read other works. So I did. And that’s when I stumbled upon Bukowski. That quote above, was the first I ever read and it instantly caught my attention. That right there, is raw truth. 

If you think with your head, you’re smart. Think with your heart and you’re a dreamer. Think with neither, you’re majority. If you think with both, well, you’re nearly extinct. 
Every where I look I see people trying to fit in. I can tell because I once was those people. We all were, at one point in our lives. Agreeing with others, going along with things because that’s what it takes to become accepted in society. Lose your conscience and your opinion and you fit in. Disagree and get labelled a rebel. 
There’s an experiment that we conducted when I was in college for my psych class. Questions were asked to see people’s reaction. Before answering the candidates would look at each other for ideas on how to respond, afraid to give their opinion first in fear of being wrong. So they would wait and look around. If majority of a group answered the question as affirmative the rest would agree. We normally do that in our lives as well. It’s referred to as Peer pressure or Social pressure. Following the rest to fit in. To be accepted. To not be left behind because the world is moving at such a vast pace and we all want to keep up. 

“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”

The second quote sums up the predicament. Yes, we all have limited time. Sojourning on earth, we should make the best of what we have. Instead we follow rules, become somebody we’re not. Humankind takes pride in their liberty. Countries and people celebrate independence, Yet we are not truly free. Bound by rules, regulations, responsibilities and laws that we, ourself, have created. Preying on people who break one law or use their Freedom of speech. Terrorising anybody that dares to defy a social norm. With constant fear of being judged by others, you call that freedom? Never taking risks. Following the routine everyday and feeling emptiness in our hearts. 

Bukowski says that if you’re already aware how you’re day/week is going to be like, I pity you. You’re trapped in you’re own life, barely alive. What a horrible way to live. 

“Boring damned people. All over the earth. Propagating more boring damned people. What a horror show. The earth swarmed with them.”

Life has been made so easy now. We have a button for everything, instant everything. All to save time. Yet time is exactly what we don’t have anymore. People live the same way everyday. Sleep, Eat, drink, work, lie on social media, complain about things, critique whatever, feel drained, fall to bed and hit repeat the next day. Zombies for all purposes. So how to break the chain and the confines of a self inflicted disease that’s taking over the entire world? 

“You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.”

Bukowski has an answer for that as well. You can save the world by saving one man. One step at a time. Somebody has to be the first after all. But before you decide to help anybody, help yourself. Begin by saving yourself first. 

Love, 

Manal