8/26/22 – WooJin Cho
All things come to a collapse. In order to live, you must die. Economic systems that society relies upon have phases of life and death: Growth and Contraction. As I live and accumulate more life experiences, I feel as if parts of me die for new personalities to emerge.
From my childhood, I had to adapt to the surrounding environment. To be liked to make sure I can ensure I have a place to stay, food to eat and continue living. However, I wasn’t alive. I was surviving. As I grow into the real world, I recognize my fears and insecurities. The law of scarcity in part plays to my negative emotions. The endless desires of mankind yet the finite amount of resources. To hold bitter resentment, anger, and jealousy, are all futile in themselves. Still, these negative emotions can be extremely powerful to cultivate your desires and manifest them in the real world. Recognize your desires and how they are linked to the unconditioned motivational frameworks: food, shelter, water, and air. These desires are extremely useful but also detrimental left unchecked. To fully live means to live on the edge of chaos and to find an optimal balance of exploration and security.
A great tool when dealing with negative emotions is to remember death and practice death as you are forced to practice gratitude. Taking things for granted is a condition of hedonic adaptation. Remember that your time is limited and finite as you aren’t skilled in detaching time from actions.
Also, let go of any status-seeking as it is futile. When you die, you will fade into oblivion. The memories of you will be held by families but they too will fade. No matter what mistakes you make in this life, they will be forgotten. Thus take the courage to live fully with integrity and to embrace the risks of life.
Sisyphus, the first king of Ephyra/Corinth, was a tyrant who seduced his niece and killed his visitors to show off his power. According to one story, Zeus carried off the nymph Aegina, daughter of Asopus, in the form of an eagle. Sisyphus witnessed this kidnapping in Corinth and agreed to inform Asopus as to who kidnapped Aegina in trade for a fresh water spring in his city. Zeus was furious with Sisyphus for bearing witness and earned his famous punishment in the underworld for what he did in his life: eternal, futile labor.
Sisyphus had to roll up a rock to the top of the mountain, only to hack the rock roll to the bottom every time he reached the pinnacle. Camus, a philosopher, connected this story with humanity’s futile search for meaning and truth in a meaningless and indifferent universe. Camus viewed Sisyphus as a hero who lived life to the fullest as he accepted the absurdity of his punishment.
This story reminds me of my own bubble. I create problems related to finances, relationships, and status/power games all in my mind. It’s absurd as this becomes my reality but in the grand scheme of things, meaningless. It’s because I give value to such problems that no matter how repetitive and absurd they may seem, I embrace them by giving significance and value. Thus the question lies: What do I value and why? How do I create the why and justification for a meaningless life? The answer lies within me along with the people who embody the pursuit of perfection. I must incorporate values that are aligned with improving, understanding, and sharing the wealth in which the world unfolds. No matter how scared you are of death along with the endless problems, it is worth living as long as you bear the responsibility and carry the load. To roll up the ball no matter where it goes for the sake of understanding, improving, and sharing the lessons from the journey.
My question to you is do you fear death or are you afraid of the sheer force life has to offer? If you aren’t fully prepared to die, you aren’t living to your fullest.