The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Some of you may not be familiar with this book, or movie -- some of you will. Either way, the book is both true (in it's own way) and untrue, and it is all (as so much else is) a matter of perception.
The book centers on the idea that existence is full of unbearable lightness, because each of us has only one life to live: Einmal ist keinmal (once is nonce: "what happened once might never have happened at all"). Therefore, each life is, ultimately, insignificant; every decision, ultimately, does not matter. Since decisions do not matter, they are light, they don't make us suffer: they do not bind, yet simultaneously, the insignificance of our decisions - our lives, our being - is unbearably light, hence, the unbearable lightness of being.
Sure, in a post-modern neo-nihilistic way, this is true enough. What mark are the majority of us able to make on the world? I mean, really? If we fall in the wrong mud puddle/tar pit and manage to preserve or fossilize for future generations to discover a prime example of early 21st century homo sapiens sapiens, then yes, we've left a mark. If we manage to write *the* definitive work of literature for our time, then yes, we might leave a mark. If we manage to somehow make such a contribution to the world that history remembers us, then yes, we've left a mark. I don't think I'll be doing any of that. At best, my everyday antics will be remembered over the dinner table amongst my family (blood- and extended-family) for maybe a handful of years. Perhaps the Pookster and/or the Wee One will regale their children with stories of "Granpa Kylan". That's likely to be the best I've got to hope for. However, and this is important; for me; this is enough.
I don't necessarily want to be one of the great "movers and shakers" of our time ... I don't necessarily want to be "remembered" in perpetuity. I will be happy enough if I can live my life happily and leave behind a legacy of happy and (generally) well-adjusted children. Maybe I'll have a chance to spoil some grandchildren and some great-grandchildren, and really, that will do me. I'm not terribly hard to please, and I don't think my reach exceeds my grasp by all that much.
Either way, I guess I'm just trying to say; I'm pretty well content with who and where I am. Sure, things could be better, but that will always be the case. If I can't work at bettering myself or my surroundings or my situation, then I don't have anything to strive for -- and that sounds pretty well dull and boring to me.
The book centers on the idea that existence is full of unbearable lightness, because each of us has only one life to live: Einmal ist keinmal (once is nonce: "what happened once might never have happened at all"). Therefore, each life is, ultimately, insignificant; every decision, ultimately, does not matter. Since decisions do not matter, they are light, they don't make us suffer: they do not bind, yet simultaneously, the insignificance of our decisions - our lives, our being - is unbearably light, hence, the unbearable lightness of being.
Sure, in a post-modern neo-nihilistic way, this is true enough. What mark are the majority of us able to make on the world? I mean, really? If we fall in the wrong mud puddle/tar pit and manage to preserve or fossilize for future generations to discover a prime example of early 21st century homo sapiens sapiens, then yes, we've left a mark. If we manage to write *the* definitive work of literature for our time, then yes, we might leave a mark. If we manage to somehow make such a contribution to the world that history remembers us, then yes, we've left a mark. I don't think I'll be doing any of that. At best, my everyday antics will be remembered over the dinner table amongst my family (blood- and extended-family) for maybe a handful of years. Perhaps the Pookster and/or the Wee One will regale their children with stories of "Granpa Kylan". That's likely to be the best I've got to hope for. However, and this is important; for me; this is enough.
I don't necessarily want to be one of the great "movers and shakers" of our time ... I don't necessarily want to be "remembered" in perpetuity. I will be happy enough if I can live my life happily and leave behind a legacy of happy and (generally) well-adjusted children. Maybe I'll have a chance to spoil some grandchildren and some great-grandchildren, and really, that will do me. I'm not terribly hard to please, and I don't think my reach exceeds my grasp by all that much.
Either way, I guess I'm just trying to say; I'm pretty well content with who and where I am. Sure, things could be better, but that will always be the case. If I can't work at bettering myself or my surroundings or my situation, then I don't have anything to strive for -- and that sounds pretty well dull and boring to me.