These are the thoughts of a very good friend of mine she is remarkble in many ways. This came upon my asking on what she thinks of this world and the workings within it. If you read this tell me what you think of her thoughts.
On hope: Somewhere I heard the line, "Hope is the source of humanity's greatest strengths, and its greatest weaknesses." People will keep fighting for a hopeless cause if they think they have even the slightest chance of making a difference. Hope can be a powerful source of motivation. But I agree with you, too often it only blinds you from the harsh truth and you are left with nothing. Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but I find myself agreeing with those who say that faith alone can't solve anything. Hope is only useful when it motivates someone who can make a difference. For instance, simply believing in someone may not do anything alone, but if that person takes strength from the fact that someone has faith in them and tries harder, then hope can make a difference. But simply wishing accomplishes nothing. One thing I've learned is that hope can keep you chained to a hopeless cause. It's necessary to look at the situation and decide if it's actually worth it to keep trying.
On living: The passage of time is such a cruel, relentless thing... From the moment we are born, each second that passes brings us closer to death. You can be looking forward to something for months, but once it's over all you have are memories. Every moment is incredibly precious, yet so many people seem to get caught up in busy lifestyles that they hardly seem to notice. As children, we are filled with wonder, constantly learning new things. But as we get older, society weighs us down with obligations and we no longer have the time to simply go out and see the world for what it is. Life is so cruel and beautiful, painful and precious, all at once. It's kind of depressing to think about all the things you want to do with the time you have, and yet how fleeting it all is. Maybe that's why a lot of people don't think about it. It's just too sad.
There was some play they made us read last year that talked about that, but I can't remember what it was called...
On death: I do not consider myself to have a religion, so I don't really have a defined opinion on the existence of an afterlife. But I don't think there really is a way of knowing for sure what happens after we die. But I think it's safe to say that most people would like for there to be something, anything but to cease existing in any form. Death is sad because you lose everything you care about in the world. I think afterlife theories are simply a way of giving people hope to comfort them so passing on isn't so hard. I don't think most people would really want to die if it means they’ll fade into nothingness. I personally would prefer it if there was something after death. I would like to think that my soul will continue to exist on a different plane after my physical death or have a chance at reincarnation. But while we can hope there’s something after death, we should live life as best we can. I believe it’s one of the teachings of either Hinduism or Buddhism that to live is to suffer, so they probably wouldn't see immortality as being such a great thing. I understand that it would become rather depressing after a while, seeing everyone you know pass away and not being able to do a thing about it. Personally, I have no issue with dying as long as it isn’t too soon and it isn’t in a long, painful, drawn-out way. There are still things I want to do.
On balance: Life doesn’t have as much meaning without opposites. If a person has never experienced hardship, how could they truly appreciate happiness? Would the area around the fireplace feel anywhere near as cozy and warm if you hadn’t been playing outside in the snow for an hour? Light will always create a shadow, but they complement each other. Each serves to accentuate and emphasize the other. Both are more significant because they contrast. This is also why people need to take moderation in moderation. Doing over-the-top, random things every now and then is good to keep you from getting bored of daily routines.
On perfection: I think of perfection as a concept invented by people. Sure there are things that can be mathematically perfect or perfect by otherwise limited standards, but usually when people want something to be perfect, they have an unrealistic concept of what it should be. I think that people shouldn’t focus so much on ‘perfection,’ but rather learn to be content with how things are, or at least have reasonable expectations of the world. I think that a utopian society with total peace would become rather boring very quickly. Conflict is what makes life interesting and drives us to accomplish things. Besides, with as many people as there are alive, there are bound to be millions of opinions of what a perfect world would be. Even if a majority of them were compatible, the few that clashed would ruin it for everyone else, for instance, someone bent on world domination, or people like Hitler. I find that the world as it is is in fact, pretty close to my idea of a perfect world: relative stability and happiness balanced with enough hardship to make us truly appreciate it.
On the self: I believe it was my eighth-grade history teacher who once told us how he imagined the human soul (in symbolic terms). He thought it to be something like a golden sphere that we are born with. It can be dented or soiled or completely covered in filth over time, but at the very core, it is always there. That single, short explanation stands out in my mind as my most prominent memory of that entire class, even though (or perhaps because) it was completely irrelevant to the class material. I also recall someone saying something along the lines of having struggled to find her identity for years only to realize that their true self was the person she was at nine years old. I for one believe it is nearly impossible to truly know someone, so I settled with the goal of knowing myself. Also, there's something I think you were getting at near the beginning of your entry when you were talking about wanting just a few people that would consistently watch your creations. I think what you're really getting at is self-worth. You don’t think your work, or by extension, you are worth anything unless someone appreciates it.
