COLUMN: Individual values must change

Being a senior this year, I hear constantly the voice of jobs and money. It is as if nothing else matters except to find a job. Let’s take a step back and see the true face of this hankering.

My only desire is for freedom. Naturally, I wish for others to be free and happy.

So then, one major flaw in all this is the assumption of class roles. On the surface, all people say we’re equal. It is good social etiquette to do so.

In actuality, your worth as a human being is defined by who you know, your status and the amount of money you have. In other words, the real you is compared to a fiction.

Unfortunately, companies and universities, as institutions, are not concerned with you as a person with thoughts and dreams, but only what you can give them and what you can do. One becomes a tool for others, literally selling yourself for the interests of the collective organization to fill a social need. Form soon supersedes content.

This needs to change.

Everyone is imposing on one another. Very soon you lose your mind and another’s reality becomes yours. How will you return to who you are? How will you untangle your mind from confusion?

People want things to run smoothly and nobody wants to stand out. We clap our hands and give our smiles. We want to make the voyage to death as pleasant as possible. On this journey we spend our time acquiring awards and titles so we can attain even more awards and titles. There is no cap on money, so we just seek more.

The crowd bustling along this road requires you to please it. If you say something contrary, the eye of the mass turns to you with disapproval. Everyone is kept in line by awards, money and force. However, there is no need to give in. No one wants to, including those who you believe will judge you. In fact, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. It’s time to answer the question, “What do you want?”

The search for material satisfaction brings further death upon its buyers. Countless expectations are imposed externally and one feels the duty to fulfill them. But fulfilling duty drains all higher forms of life. Living forever for the future and never living in the present kills the soul and all latent dreams.

Everyone is working for someone else, thus, no one is happy. You always have to fulfill someone else’s expectations and not your own. If everyone is trying to make the future better for those they love then nobody ever actually lives. Think about it.

Do not misunderstand me — in no way do I wish to damn anything or divide. I simply say what I see.

The solution to this is to perceive the company and the university as vehicles for your expression. You do not work for anybody. Everything is here for your benefit and joy. Imagine a child’s view when running to the monkey bars; indeed, all on this Earth is available to you. Your power is great.

All people are doing the best they can and doing what they know how to do. However, there comes a time when we recognize what we’re doing is no longer working.

At this point, we can change. The acknowledgement of this change and the acceptance thereof is liberation. Realize you can change in this moment.