Comments on: A moderate roundup…

By: Kelley

Kelley — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:54:07 +0000

I completely understand what you mean and I wonder the same things sometimes. Whenever I start thinking about all the injustices in the world and how awful people’s or animals circumstances are…I just find myself slipping down a very steep path to despair.
I mean there are so many miserable things going on in the world, it’s just all so depressing… But that’s just part of life and as much as I hate to pretend that I don’t care or do my best to just not think about it…it is still there, it still happens whether I acknowledge it or not. I sucks, it just sucks! But I would seriously drive myself insane if I let myself think about it, and if I let myself believe that there is something that can be done to fix it all.
These issues will always exist in varying degrees, and there may be a way to make a small difference but I don’t believe that humans (as a whole) are able to step outside of themselves enough to care about the world, to care about others, to care about animals…to put others ahead of themselves and not be such greedy self-centered egotistical assholes.
Humans aren’t capable of fixing this mess we live in….that is clearly obvious. We are in it for ourselves…and we’ve dug ourselves a huge hole, huge.
Nobody really wants to lay down in that hole though… And people go on and they endure probably due to the simple fact that they have a dream of what life should be like, they know what it could be and they aren’t willing to let go of that dream. They hang on until the bitter end…that dream wrapped throughout their brain as they lay dying in a third world impoverished nation, dying of AIDS and Malaria, starving and diseased…the dream persists and the will to live, the will to experience that dream…the thought of sheer joy and happiness keeps them going.
This, of course, is only my general opinion…I’m sure there are psychobabble explanations or whatever but I think it comes down to the fact that we are all seeking the same thing out of life…happiness. And we all have a vision of how we think we may achieve that happiness…at any moment it could be just around the corner…

By: gwennie

gwennie — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:24:23 +0000

I don’t need a “purpose”. I’ve found things that make me feel as though my life is productive. I try, as you do, to do things that will make the world a better place for others and that seems enough “purpose” for me. There is no “meaning” to life. I guess I’ve seen so much misery in my work, and knowing that it is just the tip of the iceberg, it makes me wonder why so many people even go through the shit that is life. I like to fix things and I’m a person who likes to take action when I see a problem. So seeing how massive and out of control the world’s problems seem makes me feel helpless. Why should people living in impoverished nations not just plan a mass suicide? What reason do they have to keep going through it? There isn’t a reason and that to me is sad.

That sentence in the article about isolation gets to me too: “no matter how close we become to another person, a gap always remains, and we are nonetheless alone”.

By: Kelley

Kelley — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:22:16 +0000

Why is everyone so caught up in this idea that there has to be “meaning” behind life, or this or that or every damn little thing?????
People live their lives trying to figure out what their purpose is or why they are here or what they are “meant” to do while here on Earth. And that their life only has meaning when and if they ever figure out what it is they are meant to do, then follow through down that path…..does this even make sense?
I had these thoughts growing up and I am so glad that I let go of them, moved on and realized that there is no underlying meaning to my life. I understand hat I was not put on this planet for the specific purpose of this or that. (I am here because my parents had sex and decided no to abort.) There is no set path for me to uncover beneath all the fallen leaves. There is no mysterious plan which I must figure out and adjust my life accordingly…
A path has not been created for me to find…I am creating my own path as I move through life…and I’m not going to try to convince myself that the path I create must have meaning or must conform to this or that or whatever.
Meaning to who anyway? Conform to which set of ideas anyway? Someone’s supposed “meaning” in life may not mean crap to Joe Blow down the street, and it’s impossible to please everyone. So is there a minimum amount of people who have to be effected by this so-called “meaning” for it to be ligit???? for a person to be satisfied that he/she has indeed found their “meaning” in life?
I don’t know…Meaning shmeening…..
Like I said, I am here because I was not aborted, I survived birth and I have not killed myself, I have not passed away in an accident or been murdered by a lover….or whatever. I am here, I am alive, I am healthy and for the most part I am finally happy.
I’ve spent a “life wasted” (or at least half my life) on depression and I don’t plan on “going back again”. I am going to try to live my life being happy, being free and being meaningful to myself and those I care about. I am going to try to be a good role model and try not to create misery for others. I am going to try to live my life in a way that is respectful to the environment and always keep future generations in mind while I make choices which may effect them.
This is meaningful to me. It is not my “meaning” in life but if it somehow effects people in a good way, that’s great. If it is all just for me, I’m okay with that too. I have to be, it is what it is.

By: gwennie

gwennie — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:04:50 +0000

Temporary is fine. I don’t even like permanence. But the question still remains…what is the point of all of this?

By: Garrett

Garrett — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:37:52 +0000

@ gwennie: A fundamental aspect of reality is impermanence. Until we get ‘comfortable’ with the idea that everything is temporary, life is going to be much less than satisfying for all involved…
I think you would be well served by reading some of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism. There are enough flavors that some of the more secular and less mythical flavors have a lot of really good things to say on the nature of reality which help redirect our viewpoints…
A good secular primer which you could borrow if you like: http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Steve-Hagen/dp/0767903323

@ J–Ro, you have a pretty damn fine site there!

By: J--Ro

J--Ro — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:10:06 +0000

Thanks for the link! I hope you found some good ideas in our Renewal Program. I know there are lots of things in there that I find very inspiring.

By: gwennie

gwennie — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:50:45 +0000

I have also shed my bitterness and despise for (most of) my fellow humans and their hypocrisy but I have problems dealing with some of the 4 existential issues the article talks about: death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness. “Death is an inevitable occurrence. Freedom, in an existential sense, refers to the absence of external structure. That is, humans do not enter a world which is inherently structured. We must give the world a structure which we ourselves create. Isolation recognizes that no matter how close we become to another person, a gap always remains, and we are nonetheless alone. Meaninglessness stems from the first three. If we must die, if we construct our own world, and if each of us is ultimately alone, then what meaning does life have?” For me, it’s the isolation and meaninglessness that is worrisome. Those make me not worry so much about the death part. But we can all leave a legacy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni0xnIlgwgY

Those crazy Colombians and their donkey-fucking.