The favicon I chose is a red pill, with a hat-tip to The Matrix.
As a reminder to self, don’t get too caught up in red pill metaphor. Seek reality but don’t stop there. Keep going. I’m writing these entries to keep myself trained on target, to keep going. Merely perceiving the real and discarding fantasy is not the aim.
Again as a reminder to self, here is how I see the Pill Hierarchy, from lost to found:
- Blue pill. Deliberately living in fantasy, afraid of reality.
- Red pill. Choosing to see, and seeing, what is real.
- Black pill. Doomsday thinking, giving up in the face of reality after taking the red pill.
- White pill. Rejecting fatalism and actively and optimistically seeking answers after taking the red pill.
- Clear pill. Accepting it all.
From blue to red is a decision. After that, it’s how you digest the consequences of that decision.
Is the experience of seeing reality going to sink you to bleak resignation and bitterness (black pill)? Or will you spring into action (white pill) and perhaps achieve some tranquility (clear pill)?
The Stoics lived the clear pill life.
For me, the biggest (and quite recent) red pill (the echo of which is still building, louder and louder in me) is that I will die, with certainty, and probably not too long from now. (Excessive use of parentheticals be damned.)
Note that this is my own pill hierarchy. I’ve seen people refer to the differently colored pills in many ways. This is my way and it works for me.