Death to the Idealist
What to Do When Reality Gets Too Real?
I’ve had a surge of idealistic thinking. Which isn’t exactly new for me, but I wanted to pontificate. I enjoy when my mind wanders through ideals, examining how to actualize ideas into our natural flow of healthy living. I consider myself a realist too. Not sure if that makes me a realistic idealist or idealistic realist. Ah, no need to label it - you get what I’m describing.
My current idealistic thinking is likely a side effect of a contemplative mind exploring the brilliance of archetypes and how they animate human beings. There’s so much beautiful, natural design in being. As there can be natural design in doing. I wish to see divine symmetry in how interpersonal collaborations and external systems are interfacing with individuals. Hmm, an idealist’s view of systems and collaborations… How welcome is that lately? From an individual's perspective, that is - not the idealism of some external controlling force.
Something seems off. It’s like individual idealist thinking is no longer allowed. Professing ideals into discussions can be a quick way to have someone overlook you, walk away, or scroll on by. Yet I still have these bursts of idealism, even though there’s not necessarily a space to openly share about them. Entertaining thoughts of idealism within discussions appears to be too burdensome for others to engage.
The Inversion of Utopian Thoughts
It’s as if there’s a broader societal norm growing that sees utopian thoughts a detriment to world order. I always saw lack of utopian thought as part of the dystopian nightmare. When did this inversion occur?
I find it odd that society has come to detest the idealist more than the saboteur or cynic. Sure, saboteurs and cynics may have their place in society too - with disruption patterns or destruction/rebirthing cycles - but these influences aren’t as controversial these days by the mainstream. Now, an idealist is the controversial one, and more likely to get pinned to a cross. Dare anyone allow an idealist reminding of principles and stating when said principles are undermined.
And by idealist, I mean someone who holds principles with integrity across varied circumstances, not just the ones that are convenient. There are lots of so-called principled people out there, who blatantly follow a double-standard approach when adhering to their principles. Instances where it’s ok for them to make exceptions to those principles, when they feel it doesn’t apply. Well, that’s not a principle then, that’s a negotiation.
It’s easy to be critical of someone you consider on an opposing side. But can you be critical of yourself and those who you consider are “right” because they’re in agreement with you? We’re living in times when the divisiveness has gotten so normalized, it perpetuates the polarized behavior. People would rather eliminate the person who’s pointing out hypocrisy occurring on all sides, than eliminate their opposition (or their very need for opposition). If they eliminated their assigned opposition, then who would they be without it? They must feed their facade of virtue, rather than the true essence of principled living.
Shoot the Messenger
These days, it appears the safer route is to shoot the messenger. It’s becoming an unwritten social contract: “Since we’re all being hypocrites, let's ax those who bring attention to the hypocrisy.” How dare anyone mention any alternative options to the hypocrisy that ensues? Heaven forbid there be accountability. That the parties involved take some ownership of their own actions when falling short themselves. Can they brush up on their self-reflections and acknowledge how they’re not fully honoring their own stated principles?
Well, I’m ready to take the darts and arrows (not bullets though, ha) to say what needs to be said. Let’s call out the hypocrisy. And yes, everyone has some hypocritical aspect they can look at. This is what the individual can do to affect the whole. Be honest about your own hypocritical tendencies. Start there. Then move to further understanding of how there’s still larger forces at play enforcing this. Those forces can one day be dissected.
I remember when I assisted running after-school programs, my coworker and I would have conversations that tied to this concern. We noticed that the youngest students (mostly first graders) had a spiritedness to them. By second grade, their spirit was broken. This included their inherent idealism. Their messages were shot down at such a young age. Only a few more schooling years before this became normalized.
With this factor, is there some element to societal schooling that indoctrinates kids to be less idealistic? If so, then it’s no surprise that adults will have difficulty around it. There’s a need to reignite the true idealism - another positive reverberation of healing the inner child. To truly live principle-based. To rid the learned disempowerment and self-censorship of your ideals, despite any concern of the arrows getting shot your way.
This is a good one! I have often felt that people look at me funny when I start speaking in terms of ideals-sort of like Gollum covering his ears and saying, “I’m not listening!”. So I’m left feeling that I shouldn’t .have spoken at all. I still don’t have a handle on that all the time. And I feel we raise children to conform-a lot, when we should be guiding and shaping them in the best way possible for their growth. It’s the difference between tending a garden and mass farming-very different harvests. We lose our attachments to archetypes at a very young age, seemingly when they are most important. We should always carry with us the childlike fascination with mythology and hero stories (thank you Joseph Campbell). These carry important life lessons and guidelines that help us come to our highest potential.