For anyone who might have stumbled across this blog and stayed long enough to read some of it, they may have noticed that there appear to be a number of reoccurring themes in circulation throughout much of it.
And that is absolutely true. I need to revisit these themes or premises on an ongoing basis; first of all, to ensure I am not straying from what I believe is absolutely true and fundamental about being a human being in this world. Let me share what is for me most fundamental one of all, and while this theme underpins just about all my thinking for about as long as I can remember, it was not until I read Franz Kafka (1883-1924) that I came across the perfect passage to give expression to it:
I am standing on the platform of the tram and I am entirely uncertain as to my place in this world, in this town, in my family. Not even approximately could I state what claims I might justifiably advance in any direction. I am quite unable to defend the fact that I am standing on this platform, holding this strap, letting myself be carried along by this tram, and that people are getting out of the tram’s way or walking along quietly or pausing in front of the shop windows. Not that anyone asks me to, but that is immaterial. (Franz Kafka – from The Passenger – 1908)
In short, we human beings have absolutely no idea why we are here or what we are doing here. We are the first and only creature on this planet that is actually capable of approaching the notion of “why”, as in – “Why are we here at all?” – although very few actually take the time to consider it a worthwhile question. Yet for me, this question should permeate every living breath we take and underscore every decision we make, in the sense that whatever the answer might be, it ought to figure prominently in the course of all human endeavor.
But this is not the case today as we are either not ready or willing to accept the responsibility that comes with the attempt to answer that question- since nothing else is going to do that for us! The critical question here is if we have the courage to take this on, since to decide for oneself is to decide for everyone else also – are we not all in this together?- and so decide the very future of the human race.
In fact, it is my belief that being able to ask “why” and attempting to provide and answer to it is in fact the sole reason why we are here as we are, and that all of evolution has added up to this point. And this is not just about us as a species but about all of the cosmos as we represent every particle of it in our bodies when we are finally in a position to ask “Why?” – as in – “Why is there anything here at all?”