What is Life About? by Q. Reyes: Artistic Warfare #4
January 4, 2009 Q. Reyes 12 Comments
What is life about? Really. Do we live hoping for the best, trying to be happy and comfortable? Is that what life is about? Is life about finding a religious belief and following it religiously? Does anyone even care why we wake up every morning?
I’m always looking for an answer to these and other questions, but no one knows, and worse yet, most people don’t care. It’s a shame that no one knows why we exist for certain.
Sure, there are those people who choose their purpose or have faith beyond their knowledge, but the fact of the matter is that no one, absolutely NO ONE, is one hundred percent sure of why humanity is here.
As of right now, for all we know, life could just be a waiting room to death, or life could be the pinnacle of existence, or life could be a cruel experiment from God. Who knows? Who actually knows the true answers? Most people will quote religion as the answer, when the truth is that the only reason religion exists is to explain the questions for which we are not able to find an answer. If we knew the answers, would we need religion?
It’s kind of depressing not knowing for certain why we breathe, or why we fight so hard for our existence. Sure, maybe some people are CONVINCED of their purpose, but that doesn’t mean they KNOW for certain that they are doing the right thing.
Life goes on with our without us individually and no one is special, even though we all think we are. We all think we have a unique view or perspective, or a unique talent, or just a special way of being. The fact is NO ONE IS SPECIAL. We are all ignorant of our true purpose.
We spend our lives learning information that is completely useless once we die. No one knows what happens when we die. It doesn’t matter what anyone says, no one knows anything and no one is special.
Thinking we’re special is a mental disorder. It’s a cover up to hide the fact that we have no clue as to what’s going to happen next with our lives. Our mothers told us growing up that we were special and unique, but they didn’t know themselves whether that was a fact.
We all go to school, work, etc. with no clear goal of what it’s at stake. Without knowing what life is about. We go about our day as if we knew why we go about our day. None of us are leaders; we are all followers of the unknown.
To put things in a more clear perspective, I’ll use what I call “The Allegory of the Bus”.
Let’s say you appear one day at a bus stop. You have amnesia and you don’t have any recollection of who you are, where you’ve been or where you’re going.
Moments later, a bus rides to the bus stop right in front of you and a bunch of people from inside the bus tell you to get in. You ask the people inside the bus “Where are you guys going?”
They have no idea.
The bus stopped at their bus stop and people inside told them to get in, so they got in. That’s why they’re in the bus now. No one riding that bus has any idea of where they’re going or for what purpose. Not even the driver. They got in the bus because that’s what everyone does. Everyone gets in the bus.
They keep trying to convince you to get in the bus. They tell you that if you don’t get in the bus, then you must crazy. You must not want to be a functional part of society. Would you get in the bus?
Most people do. You probably would. You’re probably in the bus now, asking other people to get on with you.
Same thing with life. We’re born and we have amnesia. We have no idea about anything regarding life, but the people around us, such as parents, family, society as a whole, convince us to do certain things and act a certain way.
People persuade us to get in the bus, and we feel they must know better, but they don’t. They just don’t want to feel as if they’re alone in the bus of life, so they want you to ride with them. That’s your family, your friends, and your co-workers. They are clueless, just like you.
What if we don’t get on the bus and instead decide to explore our surroundings? What if we try to get to the bottom of our existence? Why are we here in the first place? Shouldn’t they teach this in schools? Isn’t our purpose more important than math or science?
Maybe we’re just a fungus living on this planet, eating everything up, and when we’re done, we all die and that’s it? Maybe we’re on our way to heaven? Maybe we’re living in hell?
Why do we keep so busy electing politicians and trying to make money to eat, that we don’t think about who the hell are we? The only thing we know for certain is that we are born, we grow, and we die. No one knows why and I doubt anyone cares.
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Q. Reyes is a fine ass Puerto Rican who’s considered by the Mormon Church as “God’s gift to the ladies.” Q. enjoys long walks on the beach, horseback riding, and studying human interaction through internet pornography. Q. is also a creator of the Ceasar and Chuy program on LATV.
Jim
January 5, 2009 - 12:10 am
I can understand the thinking behind saying “No one is special,” but to call it a mental disorder to consider everyone unique seems a little harsh. I mean, we can’t quantify talent, personality, or any of the million things that people will consider you special for, but heck, biologically, uniqueness is a given.
No two members of any given species (heck, within a SUBspecies) are identical. ‘Identical’ twins still have, despite nearly Xeroxed-DNA, strikingly different traits, behavioral ticks (hopes, dreams, desires, if ya wanna get sappy), things like that. In that Kinsey movie that came out a while ago, the title character reveals his reason for collecting wasps, why he loves it so much: because after thousands of wasps collected, he still hasn’t found any that were the same.
Mother Nature, (or as I call ‘er, Jesus) leaves its thumbprint on everything. I’m not offended by your statement, but it seems a little unbalanced and extreme considering the evidence in the world supporting there existing such a thing as being “special.”
Keu, The Talent Superb
January 5, 2009 - 10:40 am
You’re right, Jim. My intention was not to “lump” human beings into a single mold. My point is that our own belief in our individual uniqueness, keeps us from looking into our similarities as humans overall.
People obviously have different set of skills and abilities, individually. I can’t do what Kobe Bryant, or at least I believe I can’t. Does that mean he’s better than me or you? Is his human quality greater than most people?
I can’t do what Charles Manson did either. Does that mean that I’m better than him? Am I smarter and wittier? It’s all a judgment call, and some conclusions are obviously easier to reach than others.
What I meant by “mental disorder” is that there is no clear line between smart and dumb. It’s all judged on a scale basis. There’s no percentage of people who are completely intelligent and another percentage who are not. We all fall in a range in between. It’s not black and white, rather all a grey area.
The people who we consider to have clinical “mental disorders” are those in an obvious lower end of the intelligence spectrum. Those people often need medication just to function in our society; however, there are many people who are not to that extreme, who are fully functional, yet they may still not be very high in the spectrum of intelligence.
Thinking we are individually “special” keeps us from being realistic. Keeps us from helping that person next to us. Thinking we’re special and unique require us to believe that there must be someone out there “not special” and “not unique” in order to contrast our own uniqueness.
Wars are all based on one side thinking they’re special, and the other side thinking the same thing. So now they must fight to see who’s better or who’s right. The fact is that they’re both wrong. We believe Democracy is a special thing, and we believe it should be spread all across the globe. The problem? Other people don’t think so.
I guess a better way to try to explain what I mean is to use the scenario of space aliens attacking earth. If a species of aliens would threaten our existence, you can rest assured that humans on earth would unite against them. We all would fight for that one common cause. That one united purpose. To save ourselves and our families. It wouldn’t matter who’s a more “special” human individually, just as long as we are all better than the aliens as a whole.
Jim
January 5, 2009 - 10:56 am
Oh, I understand. Yeah, what you said makes a lot of sense. I guess when people feel entitled because of their uniqueness is when things go downhill. Good article, either way. It’s cool to hear your deep thoughts on life, it’s kind of a wonky thing to talk about for a lot of people.
ed zarger
January 5, 2009 - 11:06 pm
Wow, where to begin.
Thought provoking, so good column.
And my disclaimer — that I’m not trying to convert anyone into my particular manner of religion or faith. But my religion and faith will influence my comments.
First off, I’d say that this entire column is in itself an experience of faith — in something larger than ourselves, in its existence or lack thereof. Simply searching for that is a faith response, and connects to the heart, not just the mind or what other people tell us.
In some Religious Education texts more in favor 20 years ago, faith would be defined as how we view that something larger than ourselves — often leading to something commonly called God. Religion would be the outward signs and symbols and rites and practices that we use to express that inner faith, with people of similar experiences, using symbols etc. which express what is in our hearts. These give us more full expression of what we believe or feel, and give us support from people outside of ourselves. If we do not find some manner of expression (which I call religion), then that inner faith goes stale and does not grow.
(Given this online community, I think we could see parallelism with creative gifts, which tug at your heart to find expression in some outward manner. Otherwise, you feel lessened — surely incomplete.)
One aspect very strong in your column is about what we KNOW — how much we know. I had a mother who died from Alzheimers’. Even when the disease robbed her of her memory or her ability to think as we’d recognize it, I do not believe that it robbed her of her innate value (which was vast). The person is important, not what they know. In such a situation, I learned to appreciate the moment, and sharing that — something beyond words or thoughts.
This also ties into some early Christian writings, where an important aspect was that Jesus KNEW HEARTS. That leads to teaching which is important about changing how we live, not simply changing what we KNOW in our minds. Years of rationality and science lead our culture to view MIND knowing as vastly superior to HEART knowing. Obviously I disagree.
Interesting that you wrote that NO ONE IS SPECIAL. I believe that EVERYONE IS SPECIAL. (Though I fail to live up to that, too often.) If we treated everyone ELSE as special, maybe that would solve some of your complaints. A religious or faith tenet of mine — that God loves each person so deeply — it is as though that person were the only person in the world. And God loves each person like that.
If we were to try to love like that, we’d be called a flirt (and worse), or naive. Or maybe a saint, and we could spread that belief by how we live.
In the one response, there’s a great deal of worrying about who is better or worse. I’m not in favor of a vertical hierarchy, especially among people. I think we’re more horizontal — all on that journey, and maybe all clueless. If each person is unique, then each person may have an individual insight which could make us more complete — help us to grow on our path. (I share my faith in Sunday School, and often my students teach me. A cliche, but also true.)
Just a few thoughts, sparked by your column. Thanks for starting them.
Keu, The Talent Superb
January 6, 2009 - 12:23 am
Thanks, Ed. Everything you said makes sense. I guess I’ve individually lost hope in faith. I look at the world around me and there’s so much joy everywhere, yet there’s so much pain, as well. They’re equally proportionate, meaning they flush each other out, and you couldn’t have one without the other.
Seems as if I’m being pessimistic, but in reality I’m looking for a definite answer as to “why” we exist. We might understand or have a strong belief of “how” we exist, but I want to know “why?” What’s our definite reason? Our indisputable purpose? I wonder if the if the entire human race tried to figure it out, if we ever would or even could.
M.O.T.U
January 6, 2009 - 7:17 am
Life is about 78 years….duh.
Unless you are a black man in L.A. then you’re looking at about 13 -18 years depending on how good the cop’s aim is.
ed zarger
January 6, 2009 - 8:23 am
Keu, the Talent Superb,
An underlying question in your last post is
Why is there pain? Why is there suffering?
I don’t begin to have answers, but I do have a few points to consider.
From a Christian point of view, God chose to send Jesus to suffer and die for us. If we believe that, then there was some positive aspect to that suffering.
When you look at the early Christians, they embraced this, figuring that they were imitating Jesus. Some sought to be martyred. It was a quick and sure way to heaven, if they died for their faith. (Wonder how close that is to suicide bombers today? I don’t have an inkling on their mindsets.)
And some throughout the years, looked at their suffering as somehow redemptive for themselves and the rest of the world.
As we look back at this, this would surely lead us to question their sanity. There were many extremes. (This type of thinking even continued into the early 20th century.)
But one has to consider such things based on their cultural milieu.
If Mother Teresa suffered to serve the poor in India, does that make the world better? Does that justify her choosing to suffer?
(And apologies to MOTU. Don’t mean to keep you from having the last word.)
Reg
January 6, 2009 - 2:29 pm
m.o.t.u said..”
Life is about 78 years….duh.
Unless you are a black man in L.A. then you’re looking at about 13 -18 years depending on how good the cop’s aim is.”
Michael, your statement has infinitely more irony and angst attached to it since I read…
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/06/BART.shooting/index.html#cnnSTCText
Damn….Damn….Damn.
Sometimes….. the rest is best left untyped. Damn.
Reg
January 8, 2009 - 12:30 pm
OK.. it’s 8 days into 2009 and we’ve got one brother murdered by the police and another one in a hospital bed after having a police bullet removed from his liver…. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/08/baseballer.shot/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
I need to ask….WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah.. .I know that there are plenty of young brothers being capped by one another. And that is a damned shame. Just like there’s plenty of White on White, Brown on Brown, and Asian on Asian shooting crimes being perpetrated. That too, is a damned shame. But unfortunately that’s what criminals do.
But what the HELL am I to think when those who are tasked with upholding the LAW are going about willy nilly capping and killing innocent young Black males just for Riding/Walking/Driving/Sitting/LAYING ON THE $%#%$ GROUND while Black!!???
There’s some nasty, nasty stuff in the air. I just wonder how much of it can be attributed to feeling mad and impotent about having that N^^% getting elected to the WHITE House and are acting out?
I’m madder than I have been in a long, loooooooong time. And I’m frustrated as all heck because I’m afraid that this is only the beginning.
M.O.T.U
January 9, 2009 - 1:10 am
Reg said
“But what the HELL am I to think when those who are tasked with upholding the LAW are going about willy nilly capping and killing innocent young Black males just for Riding/Walking/Driving/Sitting/LAYING ON THE $%#%$ GROUND while Black!!???”
Reg, I live in a mostly white community for no other reason than I liked the house. Last week I was looking in my own studio window at around 2 a.m in the morning. I was up working and decided to check to see if I could stop a draft that was coming in.
A cop car rolled up and put a flashlight on me. “Do you need any help?’ One of the cops asked me. THIS BLEW ME AWAY!
This white cop actually assumed I lived at MY house. Yes my front door was open and my dogs were watching me from the open doorway and yes I had a tool box with me to seal any drafts that I may have found but I could have been knocked over with a feather when the cops asked if the black guy looking in the window at 2 am needed any help. So there are cool ass cops out there…
ALL THAT SAID-I have at least a dozen racist cop stories some of which are so bad it will make you cry. These are things that happened TO ME. I know that there are a lot of good cops out there but when I’m driving in my car and a cop car is behind me I still hope and pray those lights don’t go on. Here is what is fucked up about being a black man in L.A. If I am stopped by a cop and I have done NOTHING wrong there is still a good chance I could go to jail. If it happened once…
Site Admin
January 9, 2009 - 3:52 pm
@Mary- Placing business or personal phone numbers on this site is unacceptable. Unless it is posted with expressed permission from the business or person. In other words, they have to post it.
Keu, The Talent aka Ghetto Superstar
January 10, 2009 - 9:00 am
Thanks, Mary. But how will I know for certain that Monique or Lynn know a definite answer to their own purpose in order to help me find mine?