by Anjali Gopakumar
I read this quote once when I was a kid,
“We live alone, we die alone. Everything else is just an illusion. ”
It used to keep me up at night. We all die alone. So, why am I supposed to spend my life working, sweating, struggling? For an illusion? Because no amount of friends, no girl, no assignments about conjugating the pluperfect or determining the square root of the hypotenuse is going to help me avoid my fate. I have better things to do with my time."
“We live alone, we die alone. Everything else is just an illusion. ”
It used to keep me up at night. We all die alone. So, why am I supposed to spend my life working, sweating, struggling? For an illusion? Because no amount of friends, no girl, no assignments about conjugating the pluperfect or determining the square root of the hypotenuse is going to help me avoid my fate. I have better things to do with my time."
I was watching “The Art Of Getting By” last night, a coming of age film by Gavin Wiesen, when I heard this quote in the beginning, and it got me thinking.
Is there some ulterior motive for all of us to be living? Or do we just be born, study, work hard, earn money, start a family, grow old, die, and then the entire cycle repeats with the next generation? Is that all we have to do?Do we have a purpose in life? Or are we just some lucky species who live in a planet more evolved than the rest? All these questions got me into a pretty intense existential angst with myself.
I mean, let’s face it, statistically or otherwise, in our entire life, all of us probably spend a maximum amount of time alone. And as for our purpose, different people expect different things from us, be they parents, relatives, colleagues, and ultimately, ourselves.
I asked a couple of people, and referred a few books and blogs as well. And you know what I found out that’s calmed me down for now? My dad- who almost always acts like the guiding wise man with the long, grey beard - told me that the key thing to remember is that it’s not the end, but the journey that makes it what it is. It doesn’t matter if we’re born alone or we die alone, what is important is how we spend our life within that period. It’s with whom we want to enjoy that life with. Blogger Jamie Flexman, who took it upon himself to consider the possibility that reality could be an illusion, explained the different theories surrounding it, and how everything ultimately depends on our will power. He stressed that regardless of the reality we live in, we have a certain amount of time here, and what’s important is making use of it to the fullest. Also, like another blogger said,” I believe our attention and energy should be concentrated on the journey of exploration and discovery, of mistakes and learning. That is where the true rewards, the truly important pieces of life lie.”
Is there some ulterior motive for all of us to be living? Or do we just be born, study, work hard, earn money, start a family, grow old, die, and then the entire cycle repeats with the next generation? Is that all we have to do?Do we have a purpose in life? Or are we just some lucky species who live in a planet more evolved than the rest? All these questions got me into a pretty intense existential angst with myself.
I mean, let’s face it, statistically or otherwise, in our entire life, all of us probably spend a maximum amount of time alone. And as for our purpose, different people expect different things from us, be they parents, relatives, colleagues, and ultimately, ourselves.
I asked a couple of people, and referred a few books and blogs as well. And you know what I found out that’s calmed me down for now? My dad- who almost always acts like the guiding wise man with the long, grey beard - told me that the key thing to remember is that it’s not the end, but the journey that makes it what it is. It doesn’t matter if we’re born alone or we die alone, what is important is how we spend our life within that period. It’s with whom we want to enjoy that life with. Blogger Jamie Flexman, who took it upon himself to consider the possibility that reality could be an illusion, explained the different theories surrounding it, and how everything ultimately depends on our will power. He stressed that regardless of the reality we live in, we have a certain amount of time here, and what’s important is making use of it to the fullest. Also, like another blogger said,” I believe our attention and energy should be concentrated on the journey of exploration and discovery, of mistakes and learning. That is where the true rewards, the truly important pieces of life lie.”
Maybe we have a purpose in life, maybe we don’t. But hell, I’m not the one to tell you that, we all got to figure that out for ourselves. All I’m saying is, we should live our lives the way we want to, and with the people we love and care about. Just make your living worth it. That sounds a lot more exciting than moping around and being a fatalist, don’t you think? Seriously. Enjoy being alive. And let’s face it, we’re alive and that is pretty incredible.
Like the actual Orson Welles’ quote-
“We're born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.”
And if any of you have any other thoughts about it, do share them in the comment section below. Thanks.
Like the actual Orson Welles’ quote-
“We're born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.”
And if any of you have any other thoughts about it, do share them in the comment section below. Thanks.