Beyond Scarcity 🌿
Memento mori.
Today, I woke up and went to the graveyard to water the flowers. 🪦Afterwards, I made my way to the lake to visit the ducks. As I parked my bike beside a bench, one duck in particular caught my attention.
What an elegant creature.
I stood still, quietly observing it, when suddenly an older, heavyset man sat down right next to where I was standing. His presence startled me, breaking the stillness and pulling me back into the present moment.
Perhaps he assumed I would eventually sit and wanted to secure his place. But I had been so absorbed in watching the duck that I hadn’t noticed the subtle social tension unfolding beside me. I had no interest in the bench, only in the duck. 🦆
After walking away to toss a few stones into the water, I reflected on what had just happened. The man wasn’t simply resting, he was staking a claim. Though we were the only two people there, and the bench was wide enough to accommodate at least ten, he wanted all it to himself. He needed it to be his.
Maybe it was the earlier moment of quiet reflection among the graves, or the heightened awareness of impermanence, made me realize something deeper.
I, too, was once like that man. I once believed that life operated under a zero-sum logic.
In fact, many people have this bottom-level scarcity mindset, constantly eyeing others' things, looking for those who willingly submit to their taming and can be used for free. They bet on your weakness and timidity, and on your silence when bullied. If you're just a bit polite, you'll be easily devoured, leaving you disgusted.
To be a tough character in a rotten crowd, being dominant and cold-blooded is a basic trait.
The bottom-level people only screen for likeminded individuals within their own circle, giving no chance for the weak to entangle with them. They have a zero-sum mindset.
The zero-sum mindset is this: the belief that resources, wealth, and opportunity are limited, and that any gain by one must come at a cost to another.
But somewhere along the journey of life, my perspective shifted. I no longer see the world as a field of scarcity and competition. 🌿
What remains now is a quiet sorrow for those still trapped in that old way of thinking, and the impending departure from this world. 🌍
Memento mori. 💀