“No amount of care and hesitancy, no amount of introspection and searching of our motives, can make any ultimate difference to the fact that the mind is
Like an eye that sees, but cannot see itself.
In the end, the only alternative to a shuddering paralysis is to leap into action regardless of the consequences. Action in this spirit may be right or wrong with respect to conventional standards. But our decisions upon the conventional level must be supported by the conviction that whatever we do, and whatever ‘happens’ to us, is ultimately ‘right’. In other words, we must enter into it without ‘second thought’, without the arriére-pensée of regret, hesitancy, doubt or self-recrimination. Thus, when Yün-men was asked, ‘What is the Tao?’, he answered simply, ‘Walk on! (ch’ü)’
I understand that Facebook has this idea that people should have a way to show off their complete personal history and past achievements. It’s a fairly natural expansion to what their modus operandi has been thus far.
The very notion of having a version of the past to which you can add anything and everything you like, quietly shoving under the carpet ignoring the things that do not go that well with your timeline, fits perfectly with how Facebook has evolved into this kitsch (I really like using this word lately) personal shrine of admiration each and every one of us has erected to ourselves. I assume readers are on facebook, of course; pardon me if you remain one of those shining beacons of exception and keep in mind that you have made a new friend; not on Facebook of course, but in this case, for a change, it shouldn’t matter.
I was shocked when Facebook announced to me almost a week ago that I had 7 days to prepare my profile before they would be imposing Timeline on it. I put a pretty cover photo. That’s about all I did to it.
But it’s OK, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg… whoever had this idea anyway. It really is. I can understand why you felt the need to impose Timeline on everyone. As the guilt, control-freak and addiction machine Facebook really is, the Now couldn’t have ever been quite enough to keep it going — besides, no guilt or addiction would ever be possible if all there was was the Now because guilt resides in the past and addiction nests in the future; the Now is all there is, there IS no past or future. If we only understood this simple thing we would be free… but I digress.
Countless hours of spying on others, adjusting your profile, being careful about what you would post or like and where, decorating your shrine with the right number of friends, the Goldylocks Zone of interestes (not too obscure nor too mainstream, just right), wasting huge amounts of Now by cheerfully immersing ourselves in even larger amounts of nonsense…
No, Facebook couldn’t have been satisfied for long with merely the Now to feed on; it was only a matter of time before it would claim a piece of everyone’s past as well to sink its teeth in. Ooh! Now that’s a juicy piece of social anxiety and collective inferiorioty complexes.
I understand perfectly and I’m not angry. I can look behind your petty novelties, Facebook. I can see the ways in which you’re trying to trap me further, not in your own system, formidable a menace as it is, mind you, but in the belief that my past is valuable, that it is something to show off to others and base my current identity on. That it is my “story”. The beautified events you would like me to decorate my shrine with are not my story. You are feeding this collective hallucination at the same time you’re feeding from it yourself.
As far as I am concerned, the only thing you achieved by removing my choice to not have Timeline was to further confirm what I already knew about you:
that you are dangerous.
The story of your life, complete with your graduation, your old joband how you were fired because your boss found out things about you off of facebook that, well, he shouldn’t have, that super awesome trip you hadwith your girlfriendand how you couldn’t wait to return home during it, old pictures, even the ones from when you had taken on 20kg in just 6 months back in 2007, all the different places you used to live inon your parents’ money…
