Monthly Archives: March 2014

The Will to Life

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Ah, now what have we here. Can it be?

It can.

Yes indeed, we have an actual written blog with essay and all. In celebration of this momentous occasion, I thought we could talk about a nice, light topic.

Namely: “The Will to Life”

What is the Will to Life? Well, to put it bluntly, it’s the reason you’re sitting where you are right now. It’s the reason you’re reading these words. It’s the reason you’re going to go back to the start to figure out what the reason you’re trying to find the reason is.

The Will to Life is the base desire of all living thing, a primal and instinctual need to survive that surpasses all others.

In essence, the Will to Life lies at the center of a tree diagram. It is the will from which all motivations, wants and desires are resultant from. The primary goal of every living creature is to survive. Are we agreed?

Good.

Accepting this as fact, the Will to Life is synonymous with the Will to Survive (I personally like the sound of Will to Life better though, don’t you?)

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, think of any event in your life. The last bowl of ice cream you had. The last time you didn’t make that trip out to the gym the day after. The last time you didn’t go to the doctor, knowing he’d be disappointed with you.

Sorry.

The point is, all those actions derived from the same source. The seed of the tree. Maybe they were only a few branches down, maybe they were leaves that had blown away to another land in the wind. Some were borne of the will to be happy, some of the fear of being judged, but all owe their existence to the Will to Life.

Now, there was a guy who talked about the “Will to Live”.

File:Schopenhauer.jpg

This looker

That’s Arthur Schopenhauer, a German (of course) philosopher. However, from the little reading I’ve done, his definition is too narrow. According to the only real website, “To Schopenhauer, the Will is a malignant, metaphysical existence which controls not only the actions of individual, intelligent agents, but ultimately all observable phenomena; an evil to be terminated via mankind’s duties: asceticism and chastity”.

This seems a little crazy to me. Will is not a malignant force,in the same way that it is not a benevolent force. It is A force; in fact, for living creatures, the Will to Life is THE force, but it has no inherent moral value. It is.

Here’s the kicker. What is the one thing humans will never be able to do?

(If you said fly, please leave the room now.)

The correct answer is avoid death. Can we prolong life? Sure. In the future, is it possible that humans will have created technology that will cause the retirement age to be raised to 565? Sure. But in the end, no one lives forever. (Even if it takes til the heat death of the universe.)

So, really, what are you doing right now? Still reading this? What’s the point? You’re going to lose. The one will that drives your life, the Will to Life, is destined to meet it’s end with no fulfillment. And yet, there still exists that most illogical of human emotions.

Hope.

We’re all dust in the end, yet we keep pressing onwards, driven by a will that is indomitable, existing as it does at the very base of all other functions of the mind and heart, until the day when the inevitable reaper comes knocking on your door, the knell sounds, and the last ravens fly off to a different window.

Hmm, that got heavy. I thought this was supposed to be a celebration?

That’s better.

Summer Days

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Sometimes I think winter never ends,
The birds fly south, dark snow on the ground.
I walk outside, my face is whipped by the cold winds,
And I can’t see nobody around.

I want to travel way down south,
Where there’s blue skies and sunny days.
Slow rivers running though mellow fields,
Pink clouds rising through the haze.

Oh take me down where the bright sea meets the sand,
And the dunes roll gently by the waves.
Can you help me? Oh, will you lend a hand?
And take me back to those summer days.

The grey clouds spread out and cover the whole sky,
A cold rain’s due later today.
But I’ll be inside, dreaming of a time,
And a place where the sun never goes away.

Oh take me down where the bright sea meets the sand,
And the dunes roll gently by the waves.
Can you help me? Oh, will you lend a hand?
And take me back to those summer days.

Lights on the Ground

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Blessed be the ancients who looked up to the stars,
And dreamed a dream of tranquility away from earthly bars.
If only they could see us now, their heads would fall down in shame,
We tore the earth down, burned it up, and then asked who to blame?
Now I can’t see the stars for all the lights here on the ground,
I want to burn them up, and tear them down.

Listen, listen carefully to the dreams of my soul,
Rise and fall like the tide, never knowing where to go.
When you’re young you have no wisdom, and when you’re old you have no voice,
I can’t hear you calling me, but I swear, it’s not my choice.
And I can’t see the stars for all the lights here on the ground,
I want to burn them up, and tear them down.

Love is not an action; love is an idea,
Forgotten by so many minds whose wounds it is meant to heal.
Each step we took towards being free, only left us more enchained,
And you don’t have to look that far to see how much we’ve changed.
Now we can’t see the stars for all the lights here on the ground,
I want to burn them up, and tear them down.

Castles of Rain

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Tell me, tell me, while the sun lies low,
Across the empty fields, where it once did glow,
What happened to the orchards and the summer’s green?
There was a beauty there that could never be seen.

I felt it as the rain came down the mountainside,
With a warm breeze, I used to close my eyes,
And that gentle wind would carry me away,
To deep blue skies and warm mellow days.

And now we’re kept apart, but we don’t know why,
Why do they even try?
Though we each live in castles of rain,
Together we can reach a palace in the sun.

Listen child, there across the bay,
Where the sun is setting on another day.
And the moon is rising on the open sea,
Do you remember when we used to be so free?

In the warming water, dancing in the soft light,
Waves breaking gently, in the delicate moonlight.
And the last rays of the sapphire sun,
Colored the ocean until the day was done.

And now we’re kept apart, but we don’t know why,
Why do they even try?
Though we each live in castles of rain,
Together we can reach a palace in the sun.