I’ve been hearing some snickering about this “What Can Be, Unburdened By What Has Been” thing. Let’s call it WCBBWHB for short, or not, because that’s just ridiculous. The more I think about it, the more it sounds like the kind of babble you’d hear from someone who’s had a few too many mimosas at brunch. You know the type – the ones who can’t stop talking about “manifesting their destiny” while they’re still trying to figure out how to pay off their credit card debt.

First off, let’s just be real here – “What Can Be, Unburdened By What Has Been” is one of those phrases that sounds profound until you actually try to unpack it and find it entirely lacks substance. It’s the kind of thing dumb people think sounds impressive, but really, it’s just verbal diarrhea and empty-headed drivel masquerading as insight. It’s vague enough to mean anything, but specific enough to sound like it’s got some hidden wisdom.

Let’s dissect this gem. “What Can Be” – that’s just a fancy way of saying “the future.” We all get it, the future holds possibilities. Thanks, Captain Obvious. But then it gets really rich – “Unburdened By What Has Been.” Oh, I see, so we should just ignore the past, huh? Forget lessons learned, just walk into the future like a newborn deer on an ice rink. That’s a brilliant strategy.

The idea that you can just cast off the weight of your past like you’re shedding an old coat? It’s nonsense. The past is what made the present. It’s not just some detachable accessory you can leave at home. The past is like a layered cake; it’s got all these layers of experiences, decisions, and consequences, and they all add up to the present moment. Trying to ignore the past is like trying to eat the icing without acknowledging the cake. Sure, the icing is sweet, but without the cake, it’s just a sticky mess.

It’s crazy to advocate a philosophy of living “unburdened by what has been.” This phrase actually reveals the small mind trying to fill space with blather. It’s an intellectual smoke screen. Just pretend the past didn’t happen! Brilliant! Except it’s not. It’s delusional. The past is the foundation of everything here now, who you are, and where you’re going. Every choice, every mistake, every success – they all lead to the present. Are we supposed to just forget everything good, bad, necessary, and impactful that happened? Because that sounds more like a plot for a sci-fi movie than a viable life philosophy.

And you know what happens when you ignore the past? You don’t magically become enlightened. No, you become that person who keeps making the same mistakes over and over because you don’t know anything about what happened and have cut yourself off from learning basic information about the world. Maybe making stupid mistakes out of willful ignorance is kind of amusing at first, but after a while, it’s just sad.

The people who use this phrase are the same folks who tell you to “follow your dreams” without any practical advice. “Just be yourself!” they say, while you wonder how that’s going to pay the rent. It’s all surface-level nonsense that feels good in the moment but evaporates faster than a snowflake in hell when you actually need substance.

Even if you could, you wouldn’t want to live “unburdened by what has been.” It’s essential to understand the past, accept the past, learn from it, and maintain knowledge of it to understand events in the present. It’s about being honest with yourself and realizing that the past isn’t some dead weight holding you back – it’s a treasure chest of experiences that explain the present and hint about what’s possible in the future, grounded in reality. Because, let’s face it, living in the real world beats floating around in a cloud of empty phrases any day.