You have power of your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. - Marcus Aurelius
There’s an easy way to get attention as a blogger. All you need to do is write about conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are hot. They have been for decades. I grew up in the 1980’s and 1990’s and the UFO conspiracy was big even back then. I was a huge X-Files fanboy, and I’m still fascinated by the UFO topic.
My wife gives me a hard time about it.
When the New York Times UFO story broke in 2017, I held up my phone to her face and proclaimed that the Truth Is Out There. The story I’m talking about is when U.S. Navy pilots from the USS Nimitz encountered a UFO (UAP). The encounter happened in 2004 but wasn’t acknowledged until 2017.
As much as I am into UFOs I won’t write about them. For one, I’m not a UFO expert. There are people who devote their lives to the subject. One of the problems with writing about conspiracy’s is someone will always think they know more than you.
The golden goose of the conspiracy theorist is direct access to the “Truth.” Professional conspiracy theorists have carefully crafted personas. Many of them claim to have worked in Top Secret industries to add to their credibility.
The funny thing is, I had a Top-Secret clearance many years ago. Would you like to know my secrets? Here they are….Nothing. At least nothing interesting enough to get me on the History Channel.
There’s a national security policy called compartmentalization. That means a secret-clearance doesn’t guarantee you access. It’s your Need to Know.
You get a Top-Secret clearance if you pass a rigorous year long investigation into your life. After that, your specific job determines what you see. If your building has classified information, even the janitor needs a security-clearance.
If I leveraged my background to appear like a credible conspiracy theorist, you would never know that my actual job had nothing to do with UFOs.
But that’s not the reason why I don’t write about conspiracies. The reason is because I only focus on what I can control. When you focus on what you can’t control, your life spirals out of control.
A conspiracy is attractive because it morphs into whatever the believer needs. Conspiracy theorists always say they have “proof”. But their proof is usually dependent on their or someone else’s “authority” as an insider. These authorities want believers to hand over their will.
The mysterious nature of conspiracy’s makes them appealing. Many people need to believe in something bigger than themselves. It comes from the same impulse as believing in Magic and God. But, some people want to abdicate personal responsibility. If a Hidden Hand is creating your unhappiness, then you can’t be held responsible.
My belief in UFOs gives me hope that there's more to the Universe than we understand. I am the master of my belief and I extract what I need to have more control, not less.
Abdicating personal responsibility can only give you temporary relief. This is because power and resources flow through responsibility.
Who’s right, and who’s wrong then? In my opinion it doesn’t really matter. The only thing you can control is yourself. If your beliefs give you hope, then they’re right for you. If you’re belief’s make you angry or depressed, you may have given away your personal power.
