The only escape: a purposeful environment
Question from the Internet:
“Environment. Obviously I can’t do without it, I’m a result of it. What about if you find yourself in a bad state? What if the whole world turns out to be a "bad environment"? Where do we run?”
This is a very important question which also brings into focus our free choice in life.
As you said, we are social creatures, we can’t live, we can’t survive without a Human environment.
Moreover if we honestly examine our desires, values, aspirations, goals, how and why we dress, what we eat, what we buy, consume, we will find that we are truly the product of the environment.
There is nothing in us which wouldn’t be influenced by the environment, how our innate qualities, abilities, characteristics unfold, appear in us is all dependent on the environment we find ourselves in!
Our inherent potential is like a seed, but what grows out of it, how we develop depends on the “ground” we saw that seed stem into.
Most of the time we are born into a certain environment, society, and even after we start moving in later years, where we end up is predetermined by multiple factors.
So where is our free choice then, how can we choose a better “ground”, “incubator” to place ourselves into?! How can we find a new environment if it general environment - like today’s general society - turns out to be negative, toxic?! How can we change our states?!
Our only escape from the general environment, from negative states is searching for, building around ourselves a new, closed, purposeful environment with selected, like-minded people.
If we can organize such an small, closed, purposeful environment around a common goal, purpose we all commit to, and we all actively contribute, mutually supporting, mutually complementing each other, then this small environment truly becomes like a positive, life-giving incubator that can bring the best out of all of its members.
They can even learn to use any negative states, individual failures to their advantage initiating mutual support, inspiration, pulling and pushing each other forward, while even the “negative” attributes of envy, jealousy, desire for respect can propel then forward if used positively, purposefully.
Later on such small environments can become like “rescue boats” for the greater, general environment is it continues to sink ever deeper into crisis!