Fragility and Aimlessness
Last week’s discussion was on the importance of integrity in living well, and is, in fact, the seat of our endeavor. If you haven’t finished last week’s letter, I highly encourage you to do so; it’s vital for understanding where we’re going. Here’s the link.
This week, we’ll turn to the cost of living without integrity.
What you can expect this week:
What it looks like to live without integrity.
The solution to fragility.
Reminder! If you’re on the go, the Substack app allows you to listen to this newsletter! The upper righthand corner has a ▶️ button! Click and Enjoy!
Reach for Something Else
I’ve always enjoyed the Modern Wisdom podcast and I’m glad to see that it’s gaining massively—it' shows that people truly want more out of life, and for the better.
Recently, Chris had Dewayne, another YouTube sensation on to discuss the years of wisdom gained from the school of hard knocks. I’ve listened to Dewayne off and on for the last couple of years and enjoyed his plain speak. Being from the Great Plains, this forward and simplistic delivery is something I’m accustomed to and enjoy; there’s a pragmatic element to it that I wish more people would try to emulate. Myself included.
And truthfully, I enjoy Dewayne most because he reconnects me with the dream I hold of being a cowboy; something I’ve dreamt for as long as I can remember.
Here’s a particularly powerful clip that relates to today’s discussion:
Living with Fragility
If integrity is how we are to live life well, fragility encompasses anything to the contrary. It’s important to know not only what to aim at but also what not to aim at.
That’s not to say that anytime we’re upset or show negative emotion that we’re being fragile; remember, every situation calls for something different than the last. Emotion is a human function—to suppress all emotion is inhuman. Likewise, hyper-emotionality is something that bends us away from wellness as a human being.
No, fragility is when one force or another compromises the balance and function of the whole. Remember the bridge? The right amount of tension and compression create a stable structure.
What are some causes of fragility?
Hyper-sentimentality
Physical/Mental Illness
Nihilism
Deficient Education
Decadence
Procrastination
Indecision
Expediency
As you might notice, many of these overlap in some way shape or form. The overarching theme of fragility is and most simply put—aimlessness.
Aimlessness is pain.
Without an aim, you leave yourself with an enormous amount of potential energy, energy that becomes wasted should you not direct it.
Look at the archer, he has the strength to pull the string back to it’s greatest possible resting spot—the point to where he risks breaking the string could he tension it farther yet resisting the bows instinct to loose the arrow forward and find it’s mark—he holds it with perfection.
Now, should he have gone through this great exercise of might with no object to aim, no target to strike, his craft bears no meaning… there is no impact.
Grand effort with no intention, or no effort with grand intention makes no difference.
Without an aim, an effort is lacks an impact and therefore lacks any real meaning.
Over time, whether it’s via nihilism, procrastination, immediate gratification, or any other form of fragility, dissatisfaction and discontentment grow.
Resentment can seep in, strife in relationships flair, or business is always poor.
When we lack an aim we are faced with the abyss.
The well-known philosopher and whom the term nihilism and abyss are most often associated with due to his bold proclamation of the death of God, Friedrich Nietzsche, defines this problem beautifully:
“What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; 'why?' finds no answer.”
~ The Will to Power
We’ll speak more on the devaluation of the highest values—that’s a critical piece which will develop over time. For now, look at the first part of the final sentence: “The aim is lacking”.
So, logically, defining an aim should help us bolster, return, or for once discover meaning, purpose, and vitality in our lives.
I should also make myself clear that if the whole nihilism, meaninglessness, purposelessness thing isn’t “you”, this letter is still for you. Again, look back at the list, this only one of many pitfalls someone may come across. Think about which resonates with you the most and apply these same words.
And if none of these pain points resonate with you, that’s okay too. Maybe you’re looking more of an optimization of your daily life and how to “reach for more” that way, stick around because that’s where we’ll begin next week, specifically with the question, “How do we aim?”
And if this does resonate with you, and purposelessness hovers over you like a phantom, then I’ll leave us with an excerpt from my recent article on loneliness which ties directly to purposelessness and you can begin to see where one might aim…
The significant number of young men reporting loneliness presents us with a daunting task:
How can we educate young men to form the bonds with themselves and others, pulling them away from potentially life-ending despair and isolation?
The full answer appears to lay within a response to Aristotle we discussed earlier, a response from the notorious Friedrich Nietzsche:
“To live alone one must be a beast or a god, says Aristotle. Leaving out the third case: one must be both — a philosopher”
I would say this is exactly my point and what I’ve attempted to lay out.
Don’t be alarmed, you needn’t go back to university or anything like that.
What you need is exactly as I’ve laid out — the intersection between the actions of the beast (community) and those of the divine (contemplation).
Part of discovering who we are and becoming who we could be is reaching for the ever-evolving needs of the Self.
A good life is a balanced life; one where we account for all of our individual needs, not ignore the essentials because it's not immediately pleasing.
Some of us need more time in contemplation to feel whole, while others require only a little.
You might be coming from a point where you think you know what you need, and that’s great.
What I'll say about the assumption, "I know who I am", is that it's important to distinguish between who you say you are and who you really are.
It's most often the case that the two are not in agreement.
When we find that we feel conflicted and dissatisfied—for the sake of this let’s say it’s loneliness—take a moment to draw back and lose the assumptions you’ve carried with you thus far, including the one I just mentioned.
Set them down and ask yourself those baseline contemplative questions, “Where have I been? Where am I going? Who am I?”
Read the rest of the article here ⬇️
If you’re not sure where to go after this, here’s how I can help:
Make sure you’re subscribed to get this newsletter in your inbox every week for free. (P.S. You’ll also get a beautiful reading list when you subscribe!)
Check out my longer articles for deeper insights.
Comment your questions or pop them into the chat ⬇️
If none of these options are what you’re looking for, respond to this email or DM me on any one of my socials because I’d love to hear what you have to say!
Thanks for reading!
See you next week!!
xDevan