The dot you do not see on the picture, is our planet Earth viewed from the Martian sky. It is a beautiful reminder of who we truly are and takes care of any hubris we may be tempted to fall into. This is all 7 billion of us viewed from the heavens above. Makes one feel tiny doesn’t it?
Maybe it is not hubris we should aim for, but its opposite Sophrosyne which is the virtue of healthy-mindedness and from there self-control or moderation guided by knowledge and balance. Sophrosyne is a Greek Goddess considered to be one of the good spirit that escaped Pandora’s box. She is the spirit of moderation, self-control, temperance, restraint, and discretion. Whereas we humans have embraced Hubris with great haste, few of us even know of Sophrosyne.
If we accept that we are the dot you do not see, then we are forced to abandon Hubris and seek Sophrosyne and remember that we are an infinitesimal part of a Universe we have no control on. All we can aspire to is temperance and self control. But sadly that is not the case around us.
If you look around, you see only hubris.
What do you call the politician who once in power forgets all promises and loses all self control and gets busy lining his nest?
What about the one who builds ginormous statues of himself or the one who cuts a birthday cake in the shape of the Parliament House.
What about big brother who wants to gobble others as we are seeing today
Is it not hubris?
What about all the laws and ordinances passed to ensure vote banks are seduced while important ones that may have benefitted many lie gathering dust like the women’s reservation bill
Politicians the world over are devoured by hubris
But that is not all. It is not those in power only; everyone seems to have been seduced by hubris
The young and restless of today have forgotten patience and think Rome was built in a day
No one is satisfied with what they have, even those who have plenty. You always want MORE and hubris seems to blind us all.
Greed, ego and hamartia will ultimately bring us all down.
And everything has conjured to make this possible. When we started our lives Ranjan and I, we had a scooter, no TV and very little in the bank. Things came slowly and steadily as we worked towards getting them. It was the BC days – before credit – and you had to live within your means. Now you can get anything you want. You are even solicited to do so as is proved by the number of calls you get offering you loans and credit cards. Moderation, self-control, temperance, restraint, and discretion are all thrown out of the window.
Hubris breeds impatience. Hubris coaxes illusions of grandeur. And we all fall for it. I guess I did too when I thought I could build Planet Why and let myself be swayed by an impossible dream. And is it not hubris that makes me want to see Project Why live beyond me. Why can I not just accept the maxim: The King is dead, long live the king.
It is time to take a serious look at the dot you cannot see and temper one’s life. It is time we embraced Sophrosyne and accept what wen have been given with gratitude and grace.
The dot you cannot see reminds one of how infinitesimal we are and accept this reality with humility.
Maybe it is time to reintroduce Sophrosyne in our lexicon and with it moderation, self-control, temperance, restraint, and discretion