Conscious
that the ordinary person generally associates the term philosophy with
specialised thought and abstract concepts and theories, Powys broadened the
definition and extended its use as a practical tool for use in daily life. Philosophy
for him was not a thing apart, an academic subject for the lecture theatre, but the practical application
of wisdom to everyday living. He was not interested in professional
philosophers and academic debates but in the average man and woman as they try to get
through the daily struggles of work, family and life. He took philosophy back to the street and the ordinary
person, to its original purpose as a practical tool that teaches us how to live
to full and happy life. Having developed a life-philosophy of his own, he
believed he had discovered something that would aid ordinary people in their
lives and he set about sharing it through his philosophical books.
A
life-philosophy is a tool for use in our daily living so it must be both
personal and practical. JCP based his life-philosophy on the writings of the great philosophers and classic writers and stressed
that it is a practical philosophy, a
tool for living, which could be used by each and every person in their daily
lives. He offers it not as a ‘one size fits all’ solution to
living but as a template that each person can use to tailor and suit their own
personality and life circumstances. He stressed numerous times that we must not merely copy his philosophy
in a dogmatic fashion but must tailor it
to our own individual lives. It
is imperative that we each have ‘a philosophy of our own’. To those prepared to accept the challenge, Powys
takes the individual on a profound journey that can have life-changing effects on their life and
happiness. It requires work
in which the individual must become more reflective, creative and radical in
their approach to life and this effort is one of the reasons why so
many people do not have a life-philosophy. But the work must be done if each
person is to be contented, fulfilled and live an authentic and free life.
JCP understood the lot of
the ordinary man and woman living in a work-centred, materialistic world. He lived in America
at the time it was becoming the first modern industrial consumer society and witnessed what we are ourselves see and experience now
every day – people hurrying about “like ants on an ant-heap” working in unfulfilling jobs, grabbing what
pleasure they could, consuming material goods yet remaining unhappy, restless
and stressed. The negative psychological, emotional and spiritual effects on people angered
him for we are human beings, both deserving and capable of better things. Powys did not aim to change society but
assists the reader to change themselves for ultimately, all change begins with
the individual.
If books teach us how to live then Powys’s writings do much to highlight the human situation and convinces us that a better way of living is possible and achievable. It is a liberating and empowering message in which he reminds us of the power of the human mind and imagination to create change in our lives. Although published between the 1920’s and 1950’s, Powys’s ideas are still relevant today as the issue of how to achieve a happy life is timeless and the extent of technological development, social change and economic boom and bust have increased and impacted even more on people’s lives.
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