Imagine what it would be like to climb into bed tonight without a remote control in your hand.
Would you feel less complete falling asleep?
Imagine if there were no iPods.
Would music not exist? Would you take the time to talk to the person next to you on the train or bus commute to work?
Imagine if there were no McDonald's or Olive Gardens or even grocery stores.
Would you go without food? Would you really starve if you so truly desired survial?
Imagine if there was no ESPN or Fox Sports.
Would sport cease to exist?
Imagine if you only had a few articles of clothing.
Would you freeze in the cold or be burned by the sun, having only those few articles to rely on?
Imagine if there were no banks, currency, debit or credit cards.
Would you feel more poor or more rich?
Human beings are dependent on a very minimal number of things to survive--water, oxygen, nutrients which come from either the sun or the earth, a body temperature of or very close to 98.6 degrees. Outside of our bodies we truly possess nothing physical. Without our souls we possess nothing at all. Just as a man can take your car he can take your body. But even in dying no one can take your soul.
What is it that truly makes a man feel complete? If a man is hungry he eats food, and his stomach sends a message to his brain that it has received what it desired. What is it that makes a man feel complete metaphysically? It is his sense of belonging--the reassurance internally that he exists for a reason. If that were not the case, no one would ever do anything, including seeking food to avoid starvation.
"Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a "secondary rationalization" of instinctual drives."
--Victor E. Frankl--
Where are the wires crossed in man? When does man become unfulfilled with just being? When is food, oxygen, water, and sunlight, not enough?
The earliest human beings did what was necessary to survive, and over the course of time, discovered ways to improve life.
Why would a "caveman" make many trips on foot to transport something if the wheel allowed him to do it in one trip? If he still chose to make several trips would the job be any less complete?
Why would a man go outside to retrieve water, to boil it over a fire, to fill a bathtub to bathe, if someone has created plumbing which transports the water from its source through a hotwater tank to his shower head? Would he be an idiot, though, if he chose to do it the first way? Would he be less clean? Would he be more susceptible to disease, germs or subsequent fatality?
We use the wheel and have indoor plumbing because it makes our lives faster and easier. I use the wheel and take very warm showers, with processed body wash and shampoo, because it makes my life easier and more efficient. But when do we cross the line? When do we go from a place of seeking for need to seeking for want? When do we alter the definition of "need" to fit into what is really "want"?
I believe it is at this moment, this threshold we seperate our selves from ourselves. We pull away from one another. The brand new big screen television we buy and hang on our wall to "get in touch" with the world outside of our home actually seperates us from the person who is across town, next door, or directly beside us, because we are not communicating or sharing our thoughts.
Why do we place such a high value on meaningless material items? Why do we hurt one another to obtain these idols of worthlessness?
If all one really has is his immortal soul, inside of his mortal body, than all we really have on earth is each other.
The Daily Piper is a source for independent creativity, on my part, through the use of my words and pictures. It is a source for everyone to express themselves in the most creative of enterprises. No bias, slander or judgement will be tolerated at The Daily Piper.
So it is with this first post that I commence my journey toward understanding and meaning.
2 comments:
Wow, Pipes, this is exciting. Not only my first blog post by you, but also my first text message ever! I would have texted back (is that what you say?), but I didn't know how. I'll have to ask Elena to figure it out.
I was actually going to suggest that you start a blog. I've found it to be a fun way to record thoughts and memories, develop my writing, and best of all, connect with friends, new and old.
I'm challenged and inspired by your writing here. Right now I'm reading It's All Too Much, which is essentially a guide for de-cluttering and organizing your home, but the author touches upon much of what you've expressed here. We are a nation suffocating in too much stuff, a people possessed by our possessions. They keep us from living a richer life, and worst of all, as you have written, they rob us of the meaningful relationships we so desperately need.
Bravo to you for your search for deeper meaning! Love you, Bro!
It seems we are all on the same track. I refuse to use my cell phone except in a case of real need - I prefer to smile at the driver next to me. I also like to keep my windows open instead of using the AC. You get the point.
But now I must get away from a computer screen to further develop my marriage relationship. Word to the wise, don't let this blog consume you and be another source of choosing unreality over reality in an effort to expound upon the beauty of reality. It's extremely tempting...and we all fall into it at various points. For a long time that was my biggest daily struggle - to choose to live what I was writing about, instead of simply writing about it,
...because what you are saying is so very true.
God bless.
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