I find it terrifying to know that I'm going to die without knowing when nor how. But I'm going to. It's certain. So what does it all mean, this life, this momentary time?
I didn't have children so am not leaving any of my genetic material to humanity, but even if I had, so what? I would still die. Even if a child of mine had created a way to make plastic truly biodegradable and had therefore helped extend the reign of human life on Earth for decades or centuries - so what? We hairless monkeys would simply continue to have to fix the terrible messes we make and end up extinct anyway.
Does knowing death is inevitable make individual life pointless? As brief as a mayfly's and as driven by appetites. Or does it make every moment precious beyond belief? This rare, exquisite, brief gift of being able to experience the richness of the planet and of each other.
I suppose it has to be both, because neither exists without the other. Deep joy without the knowledge of loss would be flat and easy to take for granted. The terror and sense of pointlessness would be unbearable without the occasional experience of deep joy and sensory pleasure.
Without subscribing to it myself, I understand religious belief, the need, the hunger for something to give meaning to life and offer the possibility of eternity.
"Deep joy without the knowledge of loss would be flat and easy to take for granted." Just like everything without knowledge of the flip side. It would be considered "normal." A friend at book club said yesterday, "Our father verbally abused us, but I thought that was just what all fathers did."
ReplyDeleteExperiencing both is key for appreciation of the goodness of life. xoA <3