It's been a long time since posting and I'd like to thank all those individuals that have left comments or e-mailed me with praise (or criticism) about this blog. I'm still pitching my first OGN (Original Graphic Novel) and I'm currently learning how to write in Hollywood movie script format so I can work on an idea I've had for a small, independant film. There are a lot of ideas in my head regarding this column and, frankly, I can't remember half of them. So, in lieu of my normal "brilliant" ideas, I've decided to explore the eternal question that is, "What's the point of life?" and well, on a personal level, that's not something I think is hard to understand.
The point of life is to be yourself and have a damn good time doing so. That's all.
Of course, this raises two questions in and of itself: (1) Why were we created or Where did we come from? and (2), What about the morality of life and the idea of being a "good" person?
In regards to the first question, I'd be curious to know the answer but I won't pretend to have the necessary knowledge to know the intricacies of our existence. Speaking of that, couldn't creationism and evolution be tied together by saying that God created the universe to see how things could happen when molecules collided and then we all evolved from that? Or am I missing the point?
As to the latter query, I do believe that while the base natures of mankind seem to petty and selfish, we're born with the inherent strength- and fortitude of will- to overcome these vices. Perhaps those vices are there in order for us to truly appreciate the greatest thing in the world, namely the act of doing good towards others. I believe that being "good" comes down to accepting ourselves- and others- for who they are and living a life not of simple tolerance, but of
acceptance, two terms often used as synonyms (such as Nationalism and Patriotism are often misunderstood in America). I'm not sure there is any other fair way to describe how to live a "good" life without creating an unreasonable heirarchy of actions and vocations. One is able to do good in any job or situation- sometimes on a relative scale- because the smallest act of kindess has to be the greatest thing in the world, since, as far as we know, there is no larger meaning to life (or at least one that we can comprehend). "Kindness" can be defined easily without undue judgement but since the term "good" is predicated on a specific sense of morality and as we all know, morality is relative, the state of being "good" is subjective to the perspectives of others- there may be no way to truly define it. To impose such a transient term on an already ever shifting life seems counter-productive when kindness and the Golden Rule are the easiest ways to conduct one's self in a moral way. To make a long story short, if the opportunity to be ourselves and be kind to others exists at any point in life and we act with an open, loving heart, then there is little one can do, in theory, to be objectionable to others. So, if we're acting in a manner that positively impacts those around us, who would disagree that one is "good" or living a "good" life? I can't think of any other way that one can in a way that others- even with our own unique senses of "right"- could find darkness in one's day to day actions, which may be the closest to defining "good" that we'll ever agree upon.
And in my opinion, that all comes down to accepting ourselves and each other for what we are, what we aren't and what we may never be. When you look at the canvas that is the intersection of all our lives, the only things that we can rely on are each other and ourselves. No one can predict what life will bring or how we'll be challenged, but the constant in life is that we are ourselves and we have to deal with other equally powerful and unique personalities. If we accept that conflict is inevitable and that it doesn't have to result in lines being drawn, then I think we'd all be happy. I think that the world- which includes me, I know- seems to accept acting like a petulant child more often than it rewards maturity of character and of action. We're always going to disagree on something and, yes, some matters are of greater importance, but if we treat them with the same level headed attitude that we approach small problems (such as the whole "Could Batman beat Superman?" kind of irrelevant conversation), wouldn't things work better? We all have to make concessions in life and I'm amazed by the pig headedness of many politicians when it comes to addressing issues. I'm not here to preach, but when it comes to abortion or war or stem cell research, why do both sides need to employ "straw man" arguments, going to extremes to prove a point that, as with Superman & Batman, lies somewhere in the middle? Life is a matter of timing- where, when, who, why and what we are and treating it as though there are a plethora of absolutes (beyond basic decency and basic morality)is what causes most of the problem.
We're all unique people and the sooner we accept that and revel in our differences, the sooner that conflict will become philosophical and not the physical, visceral, all consuming and inevitable outcome we not only seem to be expect, but also never challenge.
The answer to all this: pain.
That probably makes no sense on the surface, but what is a greater motivator for change than pain? Beyond our small scale lives, if we look at the greatest changes in the world, there is are few that didn't arrive out of the suffering of others. Now I'm not advocating some
Watchmen like idea where someone pro-actively causes pain to instigate change, but we all "hurt" on some level every day of our lives. All of us- and I'm not above this- often struggle to both understand the pain and find a way to cope with it or integrate it into our future actions, reactions and paradigms. So often we're consumed by a reactionary anger, as we feel a sense of indignation, that we somehow didn't "deserve" the pain and forget that the grass is greener where it rains. If conflict is the source of our pain and the only kinds of conflcit that occur (according to my fuzzy memories of High School English) are man vs man, man vs himself and man vs nature, what are we all doing so wrong and what
should we be learning from these experiences?
I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers, but I think we need to learn to be honest... with ourselves and the world. So many problems that occur internally- in our souls, hearts, etc- I believe arise from not being honest about our desires, our pain and the reason for both. There's no reason not to embrace one's healthy desires and there's no reason to not let yourself being enveloped by your own pain as long as you don't lose sight of your mission and your aspirations. Every moment of your life can't be as focused as you'd like and there are times you need to cry or smile with total abandon. Do it. Be honest. And when you come into conflict with someone, be honest about the reasons. Maybe it's you, maybe it's them and maybe it's all relative to the time & place. Take a breath. Look at the sky. Smile.
If that clarity is what pain brings us, then it is probably necessary till we all can find a better way to co-exist and find a way to love one another. Or at least we have to wait till I'm elected first president of the universe.
Coming Up:- Another "Why We Fight"
- A Superman/Batman article
