In Search of a Framework

For a long while now I have always carried with me my philosophical groundwork, upon which everything I do is - fundamentally - based.

And yet - in terms of practical application - the philosophy is somewhat lacking; you have to accept the gulf between the fundamental reality of - well - reality, and the everyday occurrences in your world that demand attention, sustenance, and contemplation.

Now there are myriad of frameworks out there, a fraction of whom I list below:

• 9-5, mon-fri office job; live for your evenings and weekends
• a variety of religions
• familial structures/hierarchies
• driven by profit/greed
• live for the music
• live for the sport
• engaging in local, regional and national governance
• online communities as your focus

And a lot of these overlap. Some interact rather well. Many are likely adopted by you reading this, and I include myself in that. Or you will have plausible alternatives, when it comes to a way of income, a way of socialising, a way of travelling, a way of communicating; etc. etc.

So what about me?

Whilst I am lucky enough to enjoy the benefits of a number of the above, without an overarching framework to I guess what I'm calling 'practical life' - the actual overall context in which I have been applying myself to this world has been, what I imagine is a default for many; with some structure, but with no overall framework to which it all hangs.

As you know I have always like to challenge what is presented to me by way of my wider world. And, certainly in recent years; politics has been a central focus of this - not necessarily from a 'political allegiance/viewpoint' line of enquiry; but more fundamental questions between my geographical location and the politics going on worldwide; between the circumstances of my birth (which sounds a lot more mysterious than I intended!) and my rights as a citizen of the UK.

However, I have also been questioning my relationship with money; with people in general; with the way in which energy is harvested; and all manner of things in terms of personal mental health, and how I want to fundamentally approach my wider world experience.

Which is all a bunched together selection of words that basically say 'I've been thinking about things', and I'm coming to a point where I need some sort of framework to hang it all together.

Now, this isn't about to be a radical departure from what you and I know about me; I haven't found a new religion; I'm not about to start a cult; I'm just figuring out a lens through which to see the more practical aspects of living on Earth: Nothing about how I behave is fundamentally changing; though I hope by having a clearer framework within which to tackle the topics of discussion I am encountering in these Interesting Times, I can form clearer judgements, about how to proceed.

And so, today, I present to you the Ministry of GINGER:

If I had to describe it in a little more detail, it would be a spreadsheet-infused individual approach to categorising the wider world, and establishing firm principles of behaviour under each department.
And I don't mean moral behaviour: Although this is led into by my ultimate philosophy, it isn't attempting to take those principles and apply them to real-world situations - those things are very difficult to link, once you understand the basics of ultimate philosophy.
No, this is more about my practical behaviour; my views; my politics; my fiscal behaviour - basically my relationship with the every day in the wider world.

And - if truth be told - I haven't entirely figured out what this is yet.

The Ministry of Ginger was an 'entity' I came up with a good few years ago now. It started out as a joke footnote on a few of my websites. Probably influenced by the Monastery of Sound which - in itself - was a parody of the Ministry of Sound; which I can only assume was intended as a pseudo-governmental department that dealt with the practical application of sound for entertainment.

I think the pseudo-governmental aspect stuck, and so - a number of years later - I find myself building my own 'government' - a self-government if you will.
As I painfully make clear in the MoG blog; this is not for anyone more than myself. I don't expect anyone to follow or adopt (although I guess the underlying principle of building your own framework for how you see the practical world, is totally up for grabs!).

This is for me. This is how I marshal my thoughts about an increasingly complex world I spend the majority of my time in.