The world that we live in (and I mean developed countries and such) are conditioning us to live according to the ways that they want us to live. True freedom to do and feel as we, please? I feel like I'm being taunted and shown glimpses of what life could be. And it's so frustrating. We are conditioned to buy, want to buy, feel certain ways on certain days and for what? To please the guy making money?
I have a lot of respect for the guys that did "The Buried Life." They got a bus and made a list of things they wanted to do before they died. And they went out and did it all on their own. As the worked at completing one of their goals, they helped other people do something they wanted to do before they died.
That's what I feel life should be like. Doing things you enjoy doing. Not because someone tells you to do things the way they want you to do. Or because that's the way it's 'supposed' to be done and all that crap. However, I do believe in social order and that lovely topic. I'm not against it. But the corrupt hierarchy it has become is disgusting almost.
I want to know what it really means to be a human. And that is the goal I have to accomplish before I die. I want to experience nearly every emotion a human can experience. I want to visit as many places as I can. I want to find beauty in every part of life. I want to help other people live their lives to. I want to have kids to teach one day. I want to feel proud of myself and feel like I have a unique story to tell about life and what the untold possibilities are. Maybe one day soon I'll finish my Bucket list. But you know what will be at the top of the list.
What is the one thing you want to do before you die?
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I very much agree, except your tone feels too defeated for my tastes. Simply by understanding this, you can escape it. The thing about societal pressure, is that it can be thrown off. My advice, though it's not worth much, is to take your camera and go on trips in the world. Poverty or war zones, other cultures, remote sights. Write about it and get your pictures and stories published in magazines. My dad always writes a few articles for motorcycle magazines when he goes on his trips, and I think it would be a good thing to help get your sense of adventure going.
ReplyDeleteI can't really narrow it down to one thing, but....
To understand everything and experience everything that I can, to help all of those I care about, to reshape at least a tiny slice of the world into become fully independent of anything I to my own image, to overcome my personal flaw of laziness, not like so as not to perpetuate its existence and become guilty of hypocrisy, to make people question their beliefs on an intellectual level, and to escape monotony and the daily trudgery of the average person; I know what that feels like, I don't need to waste my time being stuck in that.
More or less.
The thing about living outside a money-oriented society is that what you have is dependent on a lot of outside factors, all the same. You're growing crops, maybe they'll fail, maybe you won't be able to feed yourself the next day - why do you think famines in Africa are such a catastrophe? We're removed from that now, yes, but you could argue that that struggle to put food on your table is what it means to be human. But then, hasn't our culture just transformed that struggle into a different form? You're still struggling to survive - and well, you can choose how you spend your money. You do have free will.
ReplyDeleteHaving just spent the weekend in Wolfville, though, and seeing an entire town self-sustaining off local everything, and everything being in walking distance.
However, the belief that you live an incomplete life unless you get everything you ever want? That in itself is kinda a fallacy, isn't it? If you're asking "what does it mean to be human," could one of the answers be "to not be perfect," but to strive for it anyway?
I think "do what you love" is a brilliant idea. I mean, if you can submit photographs for publication, that's a great step on walking towards that path. That's what I'm doing... but I really, I think that you can't have people tell you what you should do with your life, or tell you you're missing something, that you're chained somehow. You're only chained if you feel chain, and you should only want something if you feel it.
I don't have any lofty dreams of "What I want to do before I die." Fall in love, get married, maybe get published. To totally undercut my statement two lines previous, my loftiest goal is to be anthologized and become remembered after my death for literature. :P
You have to be happy with yourself and how you live. Despite what others tell you about how things should be, you need to make your own choices in this life , your life. No one else can live up to your expectations better than you.
ReplyDeleteLife takes you in different directions and how you handle these and other challenges is what makes you "human" . Sadly we cannot go back and change the past but we can look towards changing the future and improving it and ourselves for our children and their children. If you want to see how some have to live, go to a third world country to get a good idea how hard some have to work just to survive, or the heartache in a parents face when they have nothing to feed their already starving and sick child.
Live a life worth living, try new things, save for a rainy day, be kind, volunteer at a homeless shelter, visit a senior at a nursing home, sooth a crying baby, do a good job at what ever you do, be happy, laugh often and cry too speak with a soft voice and a kind heart just as you would like to be spoken to.