Life is just a ride.

Words spoken by Bill Hicks 20 odd years ago, but their power surely hasn’t diminished. Because life truly is just a ride! And if you don’t believe me, look for yourself:

Or if you’d rather read, here’s a transcript as well:

The world is like a ride at an amusement park,
and when you choose to go on it,
you think it’s real,
because that’s how powerful our minds are.
And the ride goes up and down and round and round
and it has thrills and chills
and it’s very brightly colored
and it’s very loud.
And it’s fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time,
and they begin to question:
‘Is this real? Or is this just a ride?’
And other people have remembered,
and they come back to us and they say
‘Hey! Don’t worry, don’t be afraid – ever – because…
this is just a ride.’
And we kill those people.
‘Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride!
Shut him up!
Look at my furrows of worry;
look at my big bank account, and my family.
This has to be real.
‘It’s just a ride.
But we always kill those good guys
who try and tell us that — ever notice that? —
and we let the demons run amok.
But it doesn’t matter, because…
it’s just a ride, and we can change it
any time we want.
It’s only a choice.
No effort.
No worry.
No job.
No savings and money.
Just a choice, right now,
between fear and love.
The eyes of fear want you
to put bigger locks on your door,
buy bigger guns, close yourself off.
The eyes of love, instead,
see all of us as One.

Here’s what we can do
to change the world, right now,
into a better ride.
Take all that money
we spend on weapons and defense each year
and, instead, spend it
feeding, clothing and educating
the poor of the world,
which it would do many times over —
not one human being excluded —
and we can explore space together,
both inner and outer, forever.
In peace.

After watching the documentary The Internet’s own boy of Aaron Schwarz, this is made even more poignant for me. Because isn’t that just what happened? Basically, here’s this guy saying we have it wrong, and the structures of society does whatever they can to make sure he cannot continue to speak his truth, trying desperately, and ultimately succeding, in shutting him up.

It makes me even more determined though, to continue to explore space, inner and outer, because that’s where I can find my truths. And so I want to ask you, wanna explore with me?