The Malevolent Universe (Or Philosophy Pt 3)

I promise this will be my last Philosophy post (at least directly - you'll see philosophy woven throughout other posts because it's part of who I am).

What I'd like to talk about today is The Malevolent Universe theory. First off, let me say simply that it's a horrible way to go through life. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop; never simply taking the wonderful things in life at face value; always looking for the worst in everything and everyone. I oughta know. I was trapped in the MU for the better part of my life, and it still sneaks up and blindsides me when I least expect it. I have to fight against it everyday.

There is no amorphous thing floating around waiting for something good to happen to you so it can snatch it away. It's just the prevalent philosophy of our time. It's the belief that Murphy's Law (i.e. Anything that can go wrong, will) is really a law. It's allowing long-dead old men to control your life.

Oh, I can point to any number of instances in my own life to support this theory, but as I've said before 'correlation is not causation'. For instance, almost thirteen years ago, I was a hot babe with a sharp mind and the body to match. I had just started an awesome job, I had a hot boyfriend, and life was looking pretty good. Then I ran a redlight and I lost all of it. The bod was ruined, the brain was damaged, the job went poof, and the beau split. Back then, I was sure the accident was all part of the machinations of the MU.

Ummm, nope. I ran a redlight because I wasn't paying attention while I was driving. Simple as that. The redlight running caused the bodily damage. The job went poof because they couldn't afford to leave the position empty while they waited for me to recover, especially when no one could guarantee I would recover. And finally, the boyfriend split because I hadn't done a very good job picking a worthy man to share my time with. No floating malicious baddie needed.

The universe isn't malevolent, no matter what anyone else says. It's just a universe, and we all have to figure out the best ways to move through it. So when your slogging your way through this writing business (or anything else in life), just do the best you can to avoid the redlights and the pitfalls that come with them. Pay attention, for one thing. And if you happen to run a redlight anyway, do your best to make sure you escape with a minimum of damage.