Sunday, January 28, 2007
or something like itHere's the thing about life: Nobody really knows what to do with it. We just have to live it. Our entire existence, we keep instinctively searching for its meaning. What we don't understand is that the meaning of life cannot and will not be found/sought. The meaning of life is learned. It's a process. It's by living, it's by going through everyday that we make meaning out of it. We keep looking for its meaning as if it's a goal, a target. What we don't realize is that it is the journey, it is the arrow.
I just watched the movie Stranger Than Fiction this afternoon and after giving it a lot of thought, most times, life IS stranger than fiction. Everything that's real, everything that we feel, it's all so wonderfully absurd. All the emotions and fantastic situations we portray in fiction will never amount to the feeling that reality gives us. The rush, the thrill, the joy, the sorrow, the excitement, the fear, the compassion. And that, in a nutshell, epitomizes strangeness and irony. We think of the perfect screenplays, the most bogus storylines to imitate the lives we live adding all sorts of spices and everything in between, and yet, the simple plain truth of reality, without all the superpowers and deus ex machina's, will boggle us more than anything else. Forget the special effects, forget the emo scenes, look at your own life and how you're living it. They say that life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel. When you're in the middle of deciding which side your life is at now, it'll hit you: your life is all that. The darkest of all satirical comedies, and the most delightful of all tear-inducing tragedies.
Once, while we were hanging out, my friend Arns put me through this conversation that definitely changed my perspective on things.
Arns: Dude, quick! You only have 30 more seconds from now to live! What are you gonna do?
Jay: What?? What are you talking about?
Arns: 28... 27... 26...
Jay: What? We're gonna die?
Arns: You're losing time! What are you gonna do? Go! Go! These are the last moments of your life!
Jay: What???
Arns: 17... 16...
Jay: Okkhaaay. [looks at Arns weirdly]
Arns: Is this how you're living your life??? Go Go Go!
Jay: *thinks how completely and utterly insane Arns is*
Arns: 3... 2... 1... Aaaand you're dead.
Jay: Yay.
Arns: That's the problem with life. What if you really died after the 30 seconds?
Jay: Edi patay.
Arns: IF you knew you were really going to die, trust me, you would've done something else. But since we're so "sure" that we got it all figured out, this whole life-thing, that 30 seconds is not the only time we're given, we do nothing. And that's just sad.
[Yeah, of course I'm paraphrasing. No way my friend could talk like that. He isn't Gandhi or Jesus or anything. Goodness, I have strange friends.]
Think about it. Do we really know anything about life? We say this and say that, we give our expert advice on varied topics exclaiming that sheer experience and human know-how have given us the common sense to fathom the mysteries of life. But that is not the case. The truth is, we know nothing. God put us here, God created us and left us a message saying, "Here's life. Live it." It's like Christmas morning and we're all gathered under the tree opening our present. Our Father gave us this wonderful Zoids toy to assemble, but with no instuctions, no final-product picture; just that powerful and giving nature of love that a Father bestows on His children. It's up to us to assemble it. We work on it together. We share our different opinions on how this Zoid should look like in the end, where this screw should go, where this part should be connected. Yes, we might be right about it but we'll never really know until we reach the end, when we see the big picture, when we stand up, look at our completed Zoid and say with a smug smile, "Job well done." And that's what life should be all about.
the adventure ended at 9:32 PM
