111–120 of 196 posts
I find it easier to come to terms with death if I just accept that I'll have regrets.
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As someone of the same age I feel the same. Sometimes I'm enjoying myself or finding it especially easy to be stoical about mortality. But sometimes it makes me breathless with dread for a few minutes. The realisation I was probably born a bit too early for technology to give me immortality saddens me; I only have so many weekends left to do hobbies and even fewer blocks of a few thousand hours to master something ne…
I dont get this obsession with immortality, if its unleashed then it will be to enhance slavery. Dictators that dont die, potential dark ages. Enjoy rather current times, we have it easy and pretty compared to whats coming
It is hard and maybe pretentious to think I could know how to live today in order to satisfy my future self, but I think we can do very well if we tackle the subject head on. That means inviting both life and death to our lives.
I invite life by intending to be present. It is not just meditating (if you enjoy it go for it, but do so because you actually enjoy it, not to become a master meditator in the future, that might eventually come naturally). It is savoring the moment. Shutting off things that require my attention right then and there and just being with myself, not really wanting to be anywhere else.
I invite death by saying goodby to myself. By denying participating in the cult of nostalgia. That is not to say that I don't take pictures or I don't enjoy remembering good moments, but when I do so that is an act in itself, and not wanting to relive the moment. It is remembering the moment as an opportunity to both be grateful it happened and to also say goodbye to it.
Saying goodbye to myself is also acknowledging that I will be different in another moment, as I was different in the past. My past self made mistakes and also made great (I still feel a little envious as how much I could enjoy computer games when I was a teenager). This unloads a huge burden that is to require myself to be consistent throughout my entire life.
I change, I evolve. I die a lot, long before I die physically.
Doing so I think frees me to pursue what I think makes me feel good. In my case that is to write computer programs, compose poetry, play my guitar. Study philosophy (if you like it too, I would refer to concepts like the Nietzschean demon or epicurean static and dynamic pleasures, as well as Simone Weil's attention). I also love my friends and family. I believe we are better off relinquishing a little bit of individuality in lieu of being more involved in our community.
It is also nice to listen to our elders. They suffer from survivors bias the most and thus have a lot to teach us if we let them, and if we are able to abandon a little bit of the cult of the yound and new and perfect we are immersed in.
This is not just a comment for you, it is also for me. Using this opportunity to take a snapshot of myself thinking about life and death while also sharing it.
Edit: I would like to mention that this does not encompass every form of human existence. This would be insane, but I think I should say it. There is no peace of mind on an empty stomach or under the barrel of a gun. This comment does not try to encompass the extremes of human suffering. I can't say nothing about this other than that we as a society are failing to reduce human suffering. I think I would go to my deathbed regretting not being able to do more to make other humans suffer less.
I'm of the belief that life is inherently suffering and really has no meaning. You can give your own meaning to it but it all seems pointless. (as I get ready for work to sit at a desk for 8 hours)
Samesies, and man it sure seems like everyone who doesn't realize this has it easy. Like, people will say that you're depressed, but I'm pretty sure it's just rational.
I think this belief will stick with me for life and I don't see it changing but I'm open to it.
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It’s not a trick. More like deliberate training like learning to read or basic math. Not coincidentally, a young age is the best time to learn it as it pays dividends throughout your entire life. The best parents are the ones that instill that into their kids. Some will scoff and say that it’s teaching to accept mediocrity. Not at all, it’s about making the most of what you have, nothing to do with striving for more.
Ingraining the ‘parable of the workers at the vineyard’ has been phenomenal at engraining gratitude for my kids. American’s default view of ‘fairness’ can be incredibly corrosive.
Hearing that parable at Sunday mass multiple times as a youngster is one of the reasons why I stopped going to church at age 14 and have never been back.
>American’s default view of ‘fairness’ can be incredibly corrosive.
Can you elaborate on what this default view is? For example, Americans seem to have no problem with someone becoming a near-billionaire overnight from winning a multi-state lottery (Powerball, Mega Millions).
I always struggle with balancing the advice given in pieces like this. The author suggested that they "eat their cake today" suggesting that putting off pleasure is a useless denial. Death could come for us at any moment, but I can't live like I'm dieing every day. There is just a mountain of nuance and self reflection between living some bohemian lifestyle where every moment must be filled with something and some st…
I think the point is not "live like you'll die next week" but rather "live in such a way that, if you were told you have a week to live, you wouldn't regret the choices you made". If I knew I'll die next week, would I try crack? Well, maybe - there's nothing to lose and they say the highs are pretty high. But if I found myself in a hospice tomorrow, would I regret all the crack I didn't try? No - the pluses I got fro…
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One bit I find easy to lose sight of is that if I do spend my day cultivating wheat for flour for a cake, to make sure to eventually make and eat that cake, and not just spend all my time getting better at cultivating more and more wheat.
I dunno, I've discovered a deep joy in cultivating, to the point where it has developed into my "cake" to simply cultivate. I don't mind if someone else ultimately reaps the benefits, since from my own vantage I won't regret having spent an extra day in the field, doing the work. To me, this is the goal; to be able to look up towards the sun every day, sore muscles and sweat dripping, and say, "thank you for this day…
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Samesies, and man it sure seems like everyone who doesn't realize this has it easy. Like, people will say that you're depressed, but I'm pretty sure it's just rational.
I bet it felt good to feel superior to other’s who don’t see what you can :) And if it felt good why other thoughts or lack of thought couldn’t make you happy? And of course if you are happy why couldn’t you find a way to be happy all the time? Makes sense?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ingraining the ‘parable of the workers at the vineyard’ has been phenomenal at engraining gratitude for my kids. American’s default view of ‘fairness’ can be incredibly corrosive.
>‘parable of the workers at the vineyard’ Hearing that parable at Sunday mass multiple times as a youngster is one of the reasons why I stopped going to church at age 14 and have never been back. >American’s default view of ‘fairness’ can be incredibly corrosive. Can you elaborate on what this default view is? For example, Americans seem to have no problem with someone becoming a near-billionaire overnight from winni…