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'Alice came to a fork in the road.
"Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."'
~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Ahh, objectives. The purpose of life, the deeper questions, why are we here, and what are we doing? Perhaps something a little strong to consider for the purposes of my meagre little literary offering, however - Something which must be brushed across in order for it to be considered even slightly complete! I think the quote above is in fact one of the most easily understandable ways of looking into this, far removed from all the mystery of the Zen Buddhists or the logic games of the Ancient Greeks.
Why are we here, what are we doing, and more importantly, does it actually matter? The intellectuals of humanity have for the past five thousand years busied themselves with such confusing questions, searching for a greater purpose in life. Religion, borne of fear of the unknown, Heaven and Hell, borne of a lust for order in chaos, and the idea of a soul, borne of the fear of being nothing special.
Well, today I've got a poser for you. Is there anything wrong with not being special? Yes, we can fight to achieve things, work to better ourselves, our lives, humanity as a whole and increase our moral and ethical understanding as well as our understanding of the universe. I think, however, that as long as we enjoy ourselves, there's nothing wrong with appearing ordinary to others. What's important is that we live life to its fullest as we want, and ignore those problems that are greater than ourselves.
Why are we here? Because we are! What are we doing? Whatever we want! Do we have a soul? Maybe! But it doesn't really matter, you see, until after it's too late for it to matter any more.
So far from me asking you those deep important questions, just let me know what you think -
Does it matter, if we're special, or not?
Hoho,
Cheerio,
~The Thinker
You took a very roundabout way of getting to your question... Ended completely on a different path than I expected. But to answer your question in another roundabout fashion.
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter if we're special?
Well, yes, it does. Perhaps not to the general public, or even on a personal level of being the only one who can bend ones fingers back to touch the back of their hand..
But to other people who one is close to. If my fiancé thought I was just another person, why would that make -our- relationship any better than that of a man who beats his wife? He finds my little quirks and habits endearing (or so he says), and that's what made me special to him–better than the other girls.
So to me, it matters; to my friends and family, it matters. It makes me different, and therefore I am not just another sheep.
And define "special". Like in "special ed."? Know deep in my heart I am special.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of life is life itself. the purpose of today is today.
And Tigerlea said it all. What more can I add to that ?