Autarkeia
by Michael Doyle

In these days of enhanced pushes for creativity
We slip and slide in our moral relativity
Getting dazed and pushed by sex and violence
We confuse this with mistaken social turbulence

Yesterday's logic is puzzled by the push and pull
Of opinions and inundated with straight-up bull
That passes as fact until other opinions check
And through force of power make society a wreck

Let's cancel the noise in favor of self-sufficiency
It's time for the true happiness of our independency
Let's develop a code of thinking and revel in it
This is necessary for meaning and true fulfillment

Close your mind to the myriad of disturbing voices
And base our lives on the free will of our own choices
The self is not the problem behind depression and abuse
Of substances of which we must be independent of use

The conventions of his time met Ralph Waldo Emerson
And his essay, "Self Reliance", met this head-on
We need to make our own way in a world of landmines
That always insists that we somehow fall in line

Let's cancel the noise in favor of self-sufficiency
It's time for the true happiness of our independency
Let's develop a code of thinking and revel in it
This is necessary for meaning and true fulfillment

Eight principles realize the key to personal autonomy
Wisdom and confidence yield the path of self-sufficiency
The best life is not one overshared, glittery, and unsteady
The private life should, indeed, be one lived in privacy

Despite the world's displeasure, conformity should be measured
One's true thoughts, not the cliques, should be treasured
In the midst of crowds, never fear to dare to walk alone
Fitting in can, at times, be the worst sin to ever atone

Let's cancel the noise in favor of self-sufficiency
It's time for the true happiness of our independency
Let's develop a code of thinking and revel in it
This is necessary for meaning and true fulfillment

The happiest path to walk listens to the Spartan fife
Having sufficient grit leads to our successes in life
The self-discipline of admiring virtue and ignoring vice
Admiration and emulation of nobility is the best advice

A foolish consistency comes from an unchangeable mind
It's better to leave that which doesn't work far behind
While living these ways we are best served living truth
Every step taken in a self-sufficient life provides the proof

Let's cancel the noise in favor of self-sufficiency
It's time for the true happiness of our independency
Let's develop a code of thinking and revel in it
This is necessary for meaning and true fulfillment

City dolls collect paychecks from fixed institutions
Despite the fact this often destroys their constitutions
It is better to live one's life by every known indication
Living the paths drawn from our own living specifications

This is a messy world in which most people just go along
Following one's own best thoughts is how to best belong
Nothing else can bring true peace but to follow our hearts
Life might be hard but it's best to follow this from the start

(c) August 22, 2024    Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved