First Existential Crisis, Kinda Nervous
I concur with Camus. The fundamental philosophical question is whether life is worth living. All else comes after.
And yet we spend most of our lives answering everything but this.
What this question implicitly assumes, however, is that existence itself is not enough.
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But what of suffering?
Much of our existence is neither euphoric nor miserable. It’s neutral.
We’ve turned this neutrality into suffering. Seeking stimulus. Craving hyper-engagement. Blaming boredom.
I’ve found that if we slow ourselves down, yield to the moment, and start to See, a lot of the suffering dissolves.
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To survive efficiently, we’ve reduced the world to labels.
When I look at the Moon, I don’t actually See it. I label it, iconify it, and stop perceiving it.
But when I drop the label - when I See it before the label arrives - I See beauty and kindness everywhere.
The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite. (Piranesi)
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The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to an end. (Piranesi)
We put existence on trial. Demand Meaning. Triumph. Intensity.
Reducing much of life to a waiting room. Enduring the quiet neutral.
The second the high fades, the wait resumes.
The Next Friday. The Next Summer.
In perpetuity.
Unless existence needs no justification to begin with.
And suddenly a mundane Tuesday in January becomes blissful.
When the purpose is to just experience, every moment is complete.