ἐποχή

I started a new life when my head smashed into the ground.  I had a traumatic brain injury on 5 April 2019. I nearly died, but I didn’t. 

All the cliches about near death experiences are true: you realise the value of every minute, and you rethink your priorities.

Unfortunately, this has not for me resulted in achieving nirvana or love for humanity, but in an existential crisis.

Pathetic fallacy: the fog reflects my confusion.

...A life where the certainty of death is staring at me most of the time, sometimes winking at
me before I do or say something outrageous, and smiling when I do.

The main change is that my inhibitions are low, the filter that stops me from saying what I am
thinking and feeling what I am feeling is gone.

The most salient change, however, is that most social rules have become meaningless and
irrelevant to my life choices. 

Now, I can't help but be constantly aware of the fact that the only things that are real are:

• I need oxygen
• I need food, water and shelter
• I need human connection
• I must not hit my head again

Lastly, as a human, I have a natural drive to try to understand the world around me to increase my chances of survival.

All the rest, at the end of the day, isn't real. Money is not real. Borders between countries are
not real. Titles are not real. Gender is not real. Race is not real. Etc...

How much time and energy are we spending on things that are not even real?

That we will die is the only certainty we all have... What are we doing, what are we focusing
on, what really matters, how are we using this time?

ἐποχή is a Greek word used by the skeptics to indicate the act of refraining from any
conclusion for or against anything.

I often get the feeling that we have accepted certain societal values as "truths". These are
then used to appraise actions and words as "right" or "wrong".

...But what if these truths were based on something that is not real?