When I'm at my best, my energy state is fairly energetic (read: unstable). It usually follows a night of staring at the ceiling thinking, "There's got to be more to my life than this. I was meant to do something great during my time on Earth." I peak somewhere in the f-orbital, when my mind is excited.
f-orbital. Eff yeah.
As you chemists know, high-energy states are when chemical bonds are easier to form. At this point, I forge new relationships, accumulate new knowledge or skills, and start new projects. This is megalomania. I believe I can do anything. I pick a project and throw my entire being into that endeavor. I forget to eat. I stop grooming myself.
But like any high-energy state, it cannot last. Soon I encounter a difficulty I hadn't anticipated, I simply run out of energy, or I get stuck in traffic. This is when I abandon my f-orbital, and crash into inertia. I become an inert gas.
Helium - The Loser Molecule
Being an inert gas is depression, a.k.a. the opposite of megalomania. I disregard potential projects. I let people float by without making any effort to connect. I stare out of windows looking bored. This is the point at which I think, "This world is garbage. I don't have a snowball-in-hell's chance of changing a single thing."
Here's where I need to step back and think, "What would Karl do?"
You see, Karl is never an inert gas, and never a megalomaniac. Karl just is. Karl follows what Buddha called "the middle way." No striving. No clinging.
Nothing to cling to. No one to cling.
As has been established, Karl is grooving on the Universe as it is, without the impulse to change a single goddamn thing. Karl is too busy enjoying the dance to think about whether he likes the song. So next time you think, "I really ought to do something," take a moment to reflect. Is this what Karl would do?
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