Only a Fool Would Say That

Let me start this entry with a question. Why am I such a freak? I've spent years following a mantra of "avoid the normal life at all cost." But I don't think I have ever sculpted this philosophy into any meaningful definition. It was always based on a line from the Police song, Invisible Sun. The lyric goes: "I don't wanna spend the rest of my life, looking at the barrel of a normal life." I heard this years ago, nay DECADES ago, and have used it -in near religious fashion- as a reference point for making most of my biggest decisions. If you are the type of person who adheres to a more "free spirited" way of life, you may stand up beside me and say, "Hell yes, man! Live your life the way you want to!" If, however, you are one of those people who, free spirited or not, love the Police, you would be more likely to stand up and say, "Hey, wait a minute, those are totally the wrong lyrics you idiot. It's, "looking at the barrel of an Armalite," which is a gun manufacturer, not a general thought on life...how completely ironic. What I thought was a path to happiness is nothing short of a reference to the maker of some of the world's most infamous automatic weapons. To be fair, the song does disparage the use of such things, but the mistake has already been made. I am officially a complete dork.
That's right folks, I have just realized that my central philosophy is based on the misinterpretation of some old Police lyrics. No shit. Really. Perfect. This is truly a great way to start off the week. It makes me wonder...
Let's say you've based your life on a truth that was garnered erroneously from an old song-lyric. Under the light of day, this would appear to be a fairly silly concept, no? I would have to agree. Except, perhaps, what I was really doing is PROJECTING my intense sense of personal freedom onto the song. I was hearing what I WANTED to hear, not what was present. And I guess, in this instance, it hurt relatively few people. What is truly tragic, what really hurts more than it helps, is when large groups of people engage in this behavior. When they accept what they hear as the truth, because that is what they want to hear. When they don't bother to do a bit of fact checking and they blindly follow whatever they THINK is the truth only because it serves to reinforce whatever it is they already believe.
To be fair, my epiphany in regards to the true meaning of the lyrics hasn't resulted in me rethinking my position, but it has got me wondering a bit more about why I believe what I do. The difference in my predicament and the larger issue I've tried to raise is this: a personal philosophy does little damage outside of one's own reality, no matter how misdirected it may be. It is only when people take those misguided notions and force them on others as "truth" do we see the negative consequences snowball. To the misinformed on all sides, do your fucking homework before you start spouting your "truth." The only problem is, you don't even know who you are. Let me give you a hint, read my last blog entry...