Mind Not Matter

Bart: Uh, Dad?
Homer: What.
Bart: What is the mind? Is it just a system of impulses? Or is it something tangible?
Homer: Relax. What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind! Haha!

The Arizona desert is a hell hole inferno with a Martian landscape, or is the Arizona desert a majestically beautiful work of natural art? Both interpretations are correct and wrong depending on one's perspective. The Arizona landscape exists as something independent of the mind, but humans attach meaning to it with the filters of their minds. We experience natural automatic reactions to certain landscapes, and we use subjective words to describe how we feel about our reactions. The problem with language is it's often a highly imprecise mechanism for describing our thoughts and feelings. When I think about the Arizona desert, I alternate between feelings of hell hole inferno and beautiful art. I also think many other things. But I think I think too much about trivial stuff.

I often think about seeking near absolute truth about certain things such as the extremes of perception change. One part of my mind tries to prove or discount the idea that we can be in 100% control of our perceptions. If we are able to overcome most phobias by altering our perceptions, can't we alter our perceptions for nearly everything? Can't we just think of everything as wonderful? If happiness comes from within and is independent of external factors, why do anything at all? Why strive? Zen Buddhists strive for stuff those hypocrites! Why not just lie in bed all day if striving is so bad? But I think I am just thinking and analyzing way too much and getting bogged down in unnecessary details and repeating them over and over. Instead of taking certain philosophical theories to their extreme logical conclusions and pointing out inconsistencies of theories, I just need to listen to myself, experiment, and see what and doesn't work for me, then move on from there. Enough with this overthinking the same things over and over again. The absurdity of my over thinking led me to do a extensive Google search about overthinking, which made me overthink about overthinking to the tenth power! Agh!

From now on, I will just try to go with the flow and seek the middle way. If I think want something, I'll think about it for no more than a few minutes instead of hours, days or longer. I often ponder if I truly absolutely down to my bare bone marrow want something. I create long pros and cons list, think about the moral merits of buying it, ask myself if it's a want or need, coax myself into believing I'm being materialistic and can do without it, etc. My mind just spirals into a vortex that considers numerous factors over and over again. I just need to pause, stop overthinking and be more action-oriented and not live in my mind so much.

I also need to stop trying to find near-absolute truth and near-absolute consistency. Life is messy and unpredictable with lots of gray area. I can't absolutely know with the precision of the atomic clock what my true feelings and perceptions are. Humans are complex creatures who do a lot things and say a lot of things, but oftentimes what we say and do not mesh. That's okay. Humans can't be absolutely perfect and know precisely what we want and obtain all they want with ease. I just have to accept that fact and stop trying to understand myself as some predictable and easily understandable robot.