Life and death

Our perception towards questions of the kind 'what is life?', 'why are we here?', 'what is our destination?', etc define a lot the way we move in this world. At the same time, many of us seem to take life for granted, as if it is a privilege that we deserve somehow and that nobody can take from us. Events like the loss of someone close inevitably result in a brutal reality check, and this is where I am now, so I apologize for this heavy post...

One important issue is about what is destiny and whether it exists... We all know that we are born with certain gifts and restrictions and maybe you have shared a similar emotion in your life: many of our successes seemed too easy, as if there was no way to fail. On the other hand, our obvious lack of some skills, cuts us off from many exciting activities and there little we can do. So the point is that our talents and weaknesses, together with the place of birth, parents and all other circumstances we inherit, define our life so much... In the end it comes natural to wonder,  what is OUR role in all this? Isn't this just another way to describe 'destiny'? (even though I also believe that there are many things that are up to us and of course to luck)

And then come people who feel that they fulfill their mission in life following ethical codes inherited by religion, society, etc; either because of being taught that way, or out of sober realization that we are not going to stay here for ever, so at least 'let's do some good'... But when we talk about 'good' comes the issue of perception... Always do the right thing -even though often this may not be the best for you and many others-; be nice to the people -at least the definition of 'being nice' prevailing in your country or town-; and do good for the society -even though there are whole countries that blindly go to the wrong direction (if there is any right or wrong after all, which kind of my is point). Of course nobody can question that there is some kind of basic true, a 'sediment of virtue' in many religious or ethical codes...

On the other side are the carpe diem, hedonists, etc, group... Cherish every moment, or live fast, or both; learn from your mistakes instead of being afraid of them, etc, etc... And of course the profane truth that what we want and need goes beyond what is available in the space provided by all the existing ethical codes and religions. We cannot limit ourselves,  our body and soul crave for things without caring about their  righteousness, and we can get sick if we don't get it! Depression, cancer, psychosomatic malfunctions, skin reactions, etc... And I don't mean (only) desires like driving a better car, but mostly about more social freedom of all kinds; definitely more than what current constitutions like work, marriage, family, friendship provide. We all know that we are struggling to be happy inside these boundaries and some of us try to 'hack the system' in order to steal some extra happiness.

I am not trying to put the world in a small box, especially one the size of my intellectual capacity, which is definitely limited to understand what there is around me. I am only trying to say that social constructions are forcing us to live within walls which obscure the deepest questions and issues that exist. And religion comes to make us passionately believe in some easy answers. (Robert Pirsig said: 'People are only passionately supporting something that cannot be proved by solid arguments. There is no reason to be passionate about ideas that are obviously true'). 

And today, that I am looking at the starts, I realize once again that the system that we have created is nothing but a setting for a movie. There are costumes and make up artists and actors, and somewhere between there are people, ideas, places and items that are very important for me. And all these things, me included, are not meant to last forever because time is the most brutal and stubborn director, who likes to change the scenes without warning. So I have decided today not to read my script, but just to go for what is there for me. I will improvise my lines, enjoy as much as I can and keep looking at the stars, because this is what is going to stay there after all this will be gone. And of course, I will make mistakes and I will apologize, and I will show even more respect and I hope that the people will understand that.... Because I didn't want to offend them...

I am just trying to be happy....