What's It All About, Alfie?

For the last couple of days, I've been going through a bit of, "What's it all about, Alfie?" Every answer I've received, whether from my own inner listening or through the thoughts of friends when I posed the question to them, came back to this: all that matters is Now, and the value we ourselves ascribe to it.

Last evening, I was reading Rob Brezny, a metaphysical writer, and he posed a similar question with some additional things to think about. He said,  "A thousand years from now, everyone you know will be long dead and forgotten. There will be nothing left of the life you love, no evidence that you ever walked this planet."   Now, that's not necessarily a grim scenario, just one without higher meaning, and I have long been someone who ascribes higher meaning to, well, pretty much everything. And I'm not counting it out. I just want to be certain I'm being very present to my life as a human being on planet Earth now. What happens later, in any supposed afterlife, is of little consequence compared to how I'm living my life right here and now.

I look at awakening, resurrection, reincarnation, alternate realities in parallel universes, other lives I may be living in those universes, simultaneous time (which happens to be a favorite and feels right) and all things in between and on either side of that. It's all very fascinating and much of it rings true as I look at the possibilities. That's what I do. I look at everything in this field of possibilities. So much so that I've often told people, 'It's the air I breathe.'  But, what about the air that seems to be here and now, in this Universe as I know it?  How am I doing with that?

In going back to the original question, I am reminded of the title of a John Mellencamp album from several years ago, the title of which was, "Nothing Matters and What if it Did."  It's another twist on the "What's it All About, Alfie," question from the movie of that title, and the crux of my current introspection.

Anyway, Brezny went on to say, "Suppose the truth is very different. What if in fact every little thing you do subtly alters the course of world history?  What if your day-to-day decisions will actually help determine how the human species navigates its way through the epic turning point we're living through? And finally, what if you will be alive in a thousand years and reincarnated into a fresh body and in possession of the memory of the person you were back in this era?"

He adds,  "Live as if your soul is eternal."

And I agree. It really doesn't matter if you accept reincarnation or not, or any of the other theories that are out there being examined and reexamined. At the very least, we should still be living as though what we do matters. If to no one else, now or down the line, than to ourselves. It feels like a win-win to me.

Kindness. Love. It seems pretty simple.

But, good can come in many forms, be lived in many ways. I'm not talking about being a do-gooder, self-described or otherwise. I'm not talking about what we do to "earn a living."  I'm not talking about how we serve the greater good through community work (I have my own views on this and other forms of altruism), and I'm not talking about what others perceive to be good. As much as I strive to live an honest and ethical life, I'm not a believer that someone holds the rulebook and we must toe some imaginary line. Human culture, as developed down through the ages by an aristocratic, patriarchal, intolerant religiosity is not my thing. What's most important, maybe all that matters, it seems to me, is how we live our individual lives when no one's looking.

And even that can get tricky.