But is it true?

[Epilogue to “Only Somewhat Real”]

Nathaniel – or whatever his name is – and I have worked hard to present a different way of seeing the world. I think it’s coherent, it explains a lot, and it is endlessly hopeful in its implications. But is it true?

Can it be true that this 3D life that seems so real to us is only somewhat real?

Is it a fair description of our lives, to say we’re always doing improv?

It may ring true, that we are creators by nature. Does it also ring true that our real work is to create ourselves?

Vast impersonal forces flow through us, animate us, and are deflected or are redirected to some degree by our decisions. Does this ring true to you?

We are all interconnected; thus in a sense we are all part of one thing. True? False? Debatable?

We are called to create ourself through our choices. Thus it may be said that we are the center of the world. Everyone else is called, equally, to create themselves by their choices. Thus it may be said that none of us is the center of the world. Nathaniel holds that both statements are true, that it’s all in how you look at it.

Free will is a given. (Choice without free will would be a pretense, a farce.) Predestination is a given. (Wherever we find ourselves, we are at the end of a long chain of cause and effect that could have led nowhere else.) Nathaniel says both are true, not just one. Do you know any way to reconcile the two other than Nathaniel’s?

These are big questions, big statements. The book is full of big questions, big statements. Is it safe, is it wise, either to reject them out of hand or to accept them without examination?

In short: What are you doing to do now?

Everything in this book may be true – I hope it is – but you won’t know until you test it for yourself. Knowing can’t be passed on through words or even by example. It must be lived. Until you live it, it is only hearsay to you.

It is true, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but that step begins with the decision to take the step. Until you decide to take that step, you aren’t on a journey, you’re toying with the idea of taking a journey. Similarly, sometimes you have begun a journey and you decide to pause. Nothing wrong with that. Choice is what it’s all about, after all.

But when you’re ready to start, or ready to resume, the things Nathaniel has given us in this book are things you might wish to test, so see if they will bear your weight.

Whether you are just beginning, or beginning again after a pause, or reading this while already traveling,  I wish you a productive journey. After all, I have a vested interest: Your success is mine, as mine is yours. It is very true, we’re all in this together.

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From “Only Somewhat Real,” not yet published.