"Shall i kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?"

I follow Quora.com a lot, a social network of sorts where people basically ask questions and other people answer them. Throw some upvotes, comments etc in there and that's how it basically works. You get the idea. I find it intriguing, interesting, stimulating the bulk of the time. Of course it depends on which particular question one would've followed.

One question i came across read "What is the best one liner on life or philosophy that you have ever heard?". Naturally i had an answer which i gave, never mind what it was, but one answer i read through from a certain Ishan Rana really struck a chord with me. Mostly because of how it related to my previous post At my age you enjoy anything. Ishan's answer read as fowllowing verbatim:

"Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?"

~ Albert Camus.

A little explanation is necessary. This quote from Camus (it's attribution is still disputed), is a general statement on the equal insignificance of one drinking a cup of coffee and one killing themselves. The point of the quote is that every action is just as meaning(ful/less) as any other action. If life is meaningless i.e. there is nothing to it, we have the ultimate freedom to construct meaning from the mundane. And hence, something as meaningless as a cup of coffee in the morning can be a rewarding experience if you choose to make it so. Whether you believe in God or not, in afterlife or not, being human is an extraordinary experience. Once your time comes, you won't be able to live this remarkable journey in that corporeal form, so why not examine it's endless possibilities while you got it?

I felt it was the missing expansion from my previous post, it captured that last bit i had no words for. But i love how it brought to light the underlying idea that at some point as human beings we actually do have the brain power (for lack of a less dramatic term) to decide to draw meaning, joy, satisfaction from anything within reason. Is it possible that the man in the previous post who said "At my age you enjoy anything" was trying to say the same thing? Interesting correlation and a good piece of philosophy to munch on. Do you have the ultimate freedom to construct meaning from the mundane? If so, can something as meaningless as a cup of coffee in the morning be a rewarding experience if you choose to make it so? Just how far and wide in life can you apply this? Wow.

As predictable as 1 plus 1

Life sometimes teaches us, or more reminds us of how certain human behaviours can be fairly predictable, doesn't it? Could it be possible that the character from the third installment of the Matrix Trilogy, Matrix Revolutions, was right about the predictability of our nature specifically with emotions and hope. Hope is simultaneously the greatest source of human weakness and strength, he said. "Love is the one emotion designed to overwhelm all logic and reason.." In some cases it's true, i believe. Hope does keep as going most times doesn't it? At the same time even in times of absolute, blind and fruitless desperation, in times where we almost know for a fact that nothing will come of the things we endeavor, it is hope that tells us "no, i can do it right". And love... well, it simply blinds us to obvious truths. Love blinds us to potential hurt. Love blinds us to potential hurt we might inflict on others. Love whispers "it's ok" even in times when it's not. So this guy's analysis was on point in my book. But of course there's the bright side, the two can grow into the most positive influences in one's life, only when placed right. In both instances however, the two do make us as a species quite predictable.

"At my age you enjoy anything!"

Yesterday I made some time with a good friend and went and played golf. It's always been something I enjoy, it takes me to a place outside of the usual... To a place I consider somewhat serene, believe it or not.. Yes, I may be with a friend in the moment, we may be engaged in a competition of sorts in the moment.. But I am more alone in the moment. I don't like caddies, I prefer to pull my own bag. Plus their recommendations and know-it-all vibes really annoy me. Thanks, but no thanks. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. So for the bulk of the game I am just alone.. Trotting along, I am just me. I walk different. I feel different. I feel space, the physical aspect of there being lots of space around me even transcends to my state of consciousness, I feel a sense if freedom.. All to myself, all to what I want to or will do with it.. It's just.. Me. The time for inner monologue, even vocal monologue.. Hell, no one is going to hear you speaking to yourself in the middle of the park on the 13th hole! I realized how much I appreciate that time.. That time to just be me. That time to not have my phone ringing. That time to not worry about anything at all apart from my next shot. That time to just be.

Then we finished the first nine, my mate and I. On the break we sat for some breakfast. An elderly man walked past, and like a groomed man, a cultured one (or so I think), one who genuinely upheld the spirit of how one behaves at a golf club.. Happy, chatty, sociable.. I greeted the guy, "good morning sir", he smiled at us and his response was "Gentlemen! Gentlemen!! How are you doing this morning? Are you enjoying your game?".. For a moment I paused, I'm not used to seeing people this happy about literally nothing. Do people regularly celebrate a greeting this much? I know it's good manners at the club to be friendly, but this much? There's something wrong with this guy, I thought. In my brief moment of surprise, as the man walked past, my friend answered him, "we are enjoying it sir, are you?" Then he stopped dead in his tracks, with a peculiar smirk on his face, not looking directly at his respondent but more gazing into space, into nothing. As if he was searching for the right answer. But who searches for a right answer to a question like that? "Yes I am, thanks." And get on with it, that's what I thought, but not this guy. He strode backwards, leant on our table with the brightest smile I've seen in a while and said with a chuckle, "at my age, you enjoy anything, you'll see one day!" Wow. Blank. Wow.

Then I thought to myself, what is it that I do enjoy? Must I wait to be that old to enjoy it? Why is it that enjoy whatever it is that I do? And what are the conditions, circumstances or even repercussions that i do. Am I wrong for enjoying it? I mean, the thought that I consider there to be repercussions must mean there's something wrong, right? Is it me? Am I not meant to be enjoying what I enjoy? What does everyone else think? You get these stereotype comments everywhere, "you're such and such so you can't be doing certain things", but who says though? The bulk of the things I take time to enjoy I find myself making a concerted effort to make time for them. And half the time guilt lingers. For some reason. "Is this normal?", I think to myself? Must my life be a barrage of excuses simply to make time for something I enjoy.. Each time? Is life really that serious? Well, fuck, of course life is serious... But we're not robots are we? I'd like to think this is where the awkward best friends who mostly come across as bad guys to everyone but you will say, "dude, live a little!" Bottom of it all, objectively, it got me thinking, what that old man said. What is it about my life that I can't declare at my age I'd enjoy anything? What is it that you enjoy? Do you know why? Is life passing by while you contemplate why you must or must not be a certain person that you're not? My advice, play golf, or whatever it is that gives you that time alone to be just you and you... Have an inner monologue, worry about no one for a minute... Think. What makes you say "I enjoy doing this."?

This I just had to share

My wife showed me this, before i even gathered any thoughts to write i was obliged to make my contribution to the fight against technology turning us into mental slaves to it. WATCH THIS!!