The world is like a ride in 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 is 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’ve begun to question, “Is this real, or is this just a ride?” and other people have remembered, and they’ve 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 just has to be real.”
It’s just a ride.
But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that. You ever noticed that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter, because, it’s just a ride.
When I’m tempted to mourn over ten-thousand things that have gone contrary to my meticulous plans I need to remember this. Persistent indignity or enormous happiness should matter far less to me than they do, and maybe some day I’ll learn to meet each fear and joy with equanimity rather than grasping, compassion rather than anger.
I’m 41 now. Maybe by the time a new decade rolls around I’ll have it down?
I introduced Hylas to Bill Hicks (we have two of his DVDs) last weekend, including this particular sketch. It is, indeed, just a ride.
Did you know that there’s a doco just come out? American: The Bill Hicks Story. We’re off to see it in a few weeks.
xx Dee
Oh interesting. I’d never heard of him before running across the above. :)
My mother always told me to try to look at life as if it were a movie I was watching, to not get emotionally involved in my own life. When I repeat this, people think it means not having emotions. But it doesn’t. It means just what Bill is saying.
It’s just a ride.
I’m only slightly less 41 and if you figure it out I hope you will be kind enough to inform me how you did.
Don’t worry. I will. :)
Bill Hicks is one of my heroes. I rewatch his youtube vids when I’m feeling a little lost.
I have a decade and a haf on you and I’m still working on it. Sometimes life is a dark ride. I find adjusting to the dark works as well as anything.