There are two basic aspects to life, that I can see; the general concepts, and the intricacies that make them up. “Fruerer parvas;” enjoy the small things. A Latin phrase that shouldn’t be casually dismissed. Enjoying the little things has a lot of truth, as in that the little things are often the things that bring us the most pleasure.
I think about my future, I think about my past. I think about the world, life and death. These things are interesting, but they do not make me smile. What makes me smile are the small appreciations I carry for certain things; seeing a humming bird for example, who crossed paths with me as I was walking through my back yard last week. It, without me even thinking about it, brought a smile to my face. The general concepts about the universe, about natural law; the don’t bring happiness. And I think that’s relatively universal. Sure, there might be outlayers, but I doubt that many exist (if any).
The intricacies of life yield happiness, and the concepts give meaning and purpose. The question is which are more important, personally. It doesn’t have to be a devoted attention to either the small details OR the general concepts of the universe, simply a balance. You’ll notice that people are happier if they live more day-to-day than people who try to bear the weight of their past and future on their own mind. But, if a person tried to adhere themselves to one of these things, their life would be impossible (either the apex of prudence, but miserable, or the denial of consequences, but happy).
This is why we all maintain a balance, because we must in order to survive. People who aren’t as happy, people like us, have an imbalance in the aforementioned tenuous scale. I don’t care how many SSRIs you’re on, how much anxiety medication you take, for your condition; it’s up to you. You decide your balance.
Yes, I acknowledge that our various types and levels of darkness can be brought about by any number of things, and I’ll be the absolute last person to ask if you’re looking for someone to deny the use of modern drugs to treat emotional problems or imbalances, because I know that they’re necessary for some people. I do acknowledge that medical conditions exist that do adversely affect the mind, which is something I’d like to state for the record. I also know that medication can correct unnatural (I’m including both genetic and environmental factors) chemical imbalances that lead to mood fluctuations or extremes.
However:
I believe that many of us, most of us, have much more influence with regard to what paths we choose to take than we may think. We think we’re unfixable. We think we’re broken from the inside out, pulverized, our bodies and complexions barely containing the demons that stir within us. What we don’t know, or at least what we choose to suppress, is that we feed our own demons. We keep them alive. We perceive ourselves victims to our demons, when in actuality we choose to keep them alive because we’re more comfortable in misery than we are trying, even just a little bit, to change ourselves.
To reach down, rip out those demons whispering in our ears, and throw them straight into hell.
It’s up to you to try something. No one knows yourself better than you do, because you haven’t displayed yourself true to the world. So, I reiterate, it’s up to you.
Fruere parvas.
This song actually has a good point; enjoy!
And, as always, opinions, questions, and comments are very much appreciated!
2 comments
I’d also love to see if anyone has any alternative theories to the concept above
gracias!
Hey marine, this is some pretty powerful stuff. It’s funny because I was thinking about something really similar yesterday, although I couldn’t articulate it nearly as well in my head. Then again, yesterday was so bad I could barely articulate my own address in my head. But whatever…
About the “little things”, that’s such a subjective term isn’t it? Sure, a hummingbird is littler than your next door neighbor in terms of sheer mass & volume, but I’m not sure there’s any way to determine the value of each event, or each living thing (or dead chunk of rock) in this universe in absolute terms.
Where I’m going with this is: like you said, we each determine what is important to us. It’s entirely subjective. And although many people will try to tell you what world events are more important than others, the fact is you cannot discount the idea that maybe that 1 hummingbird crossing your path is somehow the most critical event of the last 100 years. Stranger things have been known to happen.
So if I read you correctly, I think I’m basically saying exactly what you said. It’s up to each of us to choose what’s important, how to live, what to fight for & what to die for. I think depression occurs when our minds become conflicted, and I think the #1 cause of conflict is when we’re told, or made to believe, that our instincts are wrong.
And unfortunately, that’s so hard to shake. When every day you’re greeted with billboards and TV commercials and coworkers telling you that the goal in life is to make money & buy fancy stuff & be a productive member of society… but your instincts tell you it’s more important to observe nature & the little things around you, well that’s when the mind hits a roadblock. Next, add a few traumatic events to really scramble your brains… abuse, debt, persecution, or just plain bad luck, and voila… there are those demons.
I’d like to think we each have the power to unwind this painful tangle. I think most of us do. But the fact that there are so many suicides each day proves that many of us don’t. One way or another, I think the key is to really look at the problem from all angles, just like you’re talking about here. With very few exceptions, I don’t believe in the “hopeless scenario”, although some days it sure seems that way.