30 September 2009
To a theist, the meaning of life is something determined by God before hand. Before God created everything, God had an idea of what He wanted us to be, and created us with a plan for us in mind. Thus, to a theist, essence precedes existence.To an atheist, existence precedes essence. There is no such predetermined essence to be found in man. What essence we have is purely defined by how we create and live our lives.
Man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world - and defines himself afterwards.
- Jean-Paul Sartre
There are implications of this view on human nature. An existentialist experiences anguish and absurdity. He realises that existence is inherently meaningless, or that a meaningful life can at any point lose all its purpose. He also realises that he, and only he is responsible his entire life, except for the very origin of this responsibility.
I am responsible for everything except for my very responsibility, for I am not the foundation of my being. Therefore everything takes place as if I were compelled to be responsible. I am abandoned in the world, not in the sense that I might remain abandoned and passive in a hostile universe like a board floating on the water, but rather in the sense that I find myself suddenly alone and without help, engaged in a world for which I bear the whole responsibility without being able, whatever I do, to tear myself away from this responsibility for an instant.
- Jean-Paul Sartre
An existentialist cannot avoid responsibility. The inescapable condition of human life is the requirement of choosing something and accepting responsibility for the consequences that follow. An existentialist cannot blame others. Any choice made is a choice made alone. This freedom is not something that we can claim or set aside. It was thrust forcefully upon us the moment we began to exist.
We can choose everything except the choice of being able to choose in the first place.
27 September 2009
My life. Who does it belong to? Does my life belong to God, my parents, my posterity or myself? Do you think it strange that I should call this life my life, yet attribute its rights to another? I know I do. That is why I believe that this life is mine to decide, mine to choose.But I cannot. I am inevitably bound by moral obligation to please others around me by acting according to their expectations. Would it be difficult to defy an order from one who has malicious intents? No, because they wish you harm, they should be ignored and avoided. Any instructions from them is not reliable. What if the advice came from one who cares for you? Even if the advice goes against logic or your own desires and wishes, you cannot easily reject their words. In fact, if you value the relationship, you might concede a fair bit of your judgment or dreams just to appease the opposite party.
Moral obligation. A detestable thing when what others expect from us opposes our own expectations of ourselves.
How could I say such a thing? Is not moral obligation the glue which holds our society together, the pillar of strength of the community?
Yet because of this obligation, we give up a part of ourselves and put on facades. We hide the truth, distort the truth and destroy the truth just to become what others want us to be. Does this life belong to them? If you, like me, believe that your life belongs to yourself, then why do we still allow ourselves to be caught by guilt trips? Slowly but surely, we bury ourselves under the layers of costume we force ourselves to wear. We lose our selves.
Cheers, to being the perfect image of what others want us to be.
26 September 2009
What exactly is so great about growing up? Why do children wish to be adults? What perks are there? Why do these kids prefer adulthood to childhood? I have some guesses of the benefits that they assume come with age. Power, maturity of thought, respect and most of all, autonomy. Freedom. Every man, woman and child wants freedom. As a child, he is subject to the directions of authoritative figures in his life; Parents, teachers, coaches, seniors. There is no freedom! He is merely a slave, obeying the orders of his masters. Grow up, grow up quickly! It does not take long for the young adult to realise that freedom is not automatically attained with an extra couple of years. Now, he has responsibilities to fulfill and expectations to meet. When that happens, he begins to long for his younger years when responsibility was a burden for someone else to carry. Oh, how he misses the freedom enjoyed when he was small. The grass is always greener on the other side.But wait, how can one say that there is no freedom? We have freewill, so we can choose whichever path we wish too take. When we were young, we could not possibly decide which path would lead us to the best conclusion, hence we entrusted others to make this decision for us. These people guided us along the way, teaching us to distinguish between good from bad, desirable from disgusting, truth from illusion. Armed with these scales we feel confident of striking it out in the world alone. We have the freedom to choose now. The teenager can choose to skip school or attend lessons. The young adult can select a can of beer over a glass of water anytime. We have freedom, right?
Open your eyes, what we have here is only an illusion of freedom. Since young we have been indoctrinated with the idea that we have to fulfill responsibilities, we have to return favours, we have to help others in need, we have to complete our duties, we have to follow social norms. This has been so effective that we are feel absolutely compelled to follow these standards, with failure resulting in feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Where is freedom in this? We are being forced into a single path of obedience without even realising it. This dread of disappointing others has us bound by the wrists. Exercise some choice. Cleanse yourself of your old notion of social norms. Do whatever suits you. By all means, disappoint others. Because moral obligation only applies to those who subscribe to that particular idea of ethics.
21 September 2009
As I was walking home from the park this evening, there was a splat on the road right in front of me. Closer inspection revealed a reddish-coloured sludge - God knows what the bird ate - lying just a few inches ahead of me. The bird was hidden within the foliage of the leaves above, chirping away innocently. How fortunate that I was not standing there.Anyway the point today is that I am free spirit and absolutely love doing whatever I feel like doing at the moment. Talk about spontaneity.
15 September 2009
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.~ Henry Miller
I want to be able to do a planche.
14 September 2009
I never imagined myself in such a precarious position.I only hope no evil comes of this.
Exercising self-control will help, no doubt.
07 September 2009
I think you should have done something that was illegal before you became eighteen.