Not Alone?

"Men's activities are occupied in two ways--in grappling with external circumstances, and in striving to set things at one in their own topsy-turvy mind." William James.

Really? James captures my existence with those words, but I honestly kind of thought I was alone. Almost everyone grapples with external circumstances (their jobs, family, health), but then don't worry about setting things right in their own minds.

At least, that's what I thought.

I think.

Part of me always said, "Of course all people struggle internally with philosophical issues," but then part of me said, "No they don't; look around you. All those golf courses are signs that people have given up on such things." But then part of me said, "Maybe they're signs that people have simply progressed past the angst and wisely said, 'Screw it; there's nothing more to life.' In that, maybe they're far ahead. If, after all, they're happy with such pursuits, that puts them ahead of the ersatz philosopher."

The bottom line is, how others deal with their supposedly topsy-turvy mind is no one else's business. We each have our own topsy-turvy minds (and souls) to deal with. Once we master our own (in my case, give me another 250 years), we can start to think about the subjective life of others. In the meantime, we can try to heed Philo's words about being kind.