There's A Line...

...And you just stepped over it. You know you're not supposed to be reading this sort of thing - it isn't in your character. You read things that are well thought out, and about things that interest you. Why are you surfing a page with articles about Nazism and crass language? But I suppose I can't criticise you too harshly. You're surfing the net, and if I assume you're a little more than a casual surfer, then you're probably on the right side of the line between exploring the net thoroughly and scraping a hole in the bottom of the virtual barrel. There's a line here. There's a line there. Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell where one ends and another begins. But I think the hardest thing for most people is working out how to take a step without stepping over one of the multitude of lines that govern every aspect of your life. Wow, extended metaphor or what. Well you can more or less stop worrying about the patterns on your carpet for now - when I say lines, I'm talking about the borders of society, culture and your person. There are barriers, suggested or enforced, that form an idea of the model citizen. The category you fall into - age, sex, ethnic background, religion, income and so on - all dictate which stereotype you should conform to. You should be eating certain foods, discussing certain topics (with certain people, of course) and dreaming certain dreams. If you're not, well then you're overstepping a line somewhere or other. Thinking about wearing a swastika on your arm? Think again - that isn't what people are expecting of you. Considering bringing up Ian McEwan's latest epic at the next football match? I'd advise against it - you're supposed to be doing other things. When you look at life in that way - a mess of borders and decision gates where you need to try and find the small, elusive spot that plants you in everyone's good books - you begin to rebel against the barriers that stop you from getting to that sweet spot. Tear down those barriers! That's what socialism, feminism and virtually everyone in the 1970's is (and was) searching for. In Philip Larkin's poem High Windows he talks about their pursuit for the 'paradise' of a world with no rules and free love. "And everyone young going down the long slide/To happiness, endlessly." But there is a warning to his liberating description. How much do you want to break down those barriers? Do you want to be able to do everything you want? Of course you do. Everyone does, deep down inside. But the fear that we often overlook - the reason Larkin's slide points 'down' instead of climbing up - is the fear that everyone else must be able to do what they want for it to work. Anarchy, no matter what philosophers like Kropotkin might tell you, just doesn't work. So what then? Sit down and shut up, accept the borders of society and live with them? Well I won't deny that it isn't a possibility. In fact, it is probably the best course of action. But look further - look beyond. At the close of High Windows Larking says "Rather than words comes the thought of High Windows/...the deep blue air, that shows/Nothing, and is nowhere, and is endless." The point is that the boundaries allow us to define who we are. What is better? Complete anarchy, or the ability to express ourselves (albeit in a limited way, but undeniably safely) within a society? by all means, step past a few boundaries. Ignore a few warning signs. I don't think smoking would be a great idea, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Makes choices that define your character and embrace the lines. Embrace the barriers. This is so easy providing you are wholehearted about making the decision of what side to be on for yourself. Considering Emo? Think brutally. Allow the choice to make tomorrow a more defining day for your character than yesterday.

"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."