The Gritty Truth Of Reality:
An Essay by A.O.
Why am I here? Why do I exist? Questions asked by most people. The answers range from a spiritual, God put you here..), to the scientific explanation of evolution of organisms. The obvious truth. The only sure answer. You are here because your parents fucked. Whether intentional or not, planned or not, your fathers sperm fertilized your mothers egg. Now you exist.
But, where did we come from? Like people in general? Where does it begin? This is a follow up, to the previous question. Now every religion and scientists have a lengthy answer that leaves so many more questions. The best answer, is in fact a question. Why does it matter? We are here now. You don’t ask to tour a farm before buying groceries. It makes no sense to ponder the beginning of life.
OK, I’m here. One will accept this. What is my purpose? A fantastic question. Answers range from, to love, to spread God’s word, to reproduce, to make an impact… The honest truth, you are here to consume. Like a toaster, it’s purpose is to toast. When it stops toasting, it is discarded. In the womb, we consume nutrients from our mother. From then on, we must continue or we will be discarded.
Now many will at this point, explain and defend their deity of choice. They’ve felt, seen or experienced something profound. A proof of existence. To which I introduce the placebo effect. We’ve been able to prove, if you believe in something hard enough it will produce desired results. So, if believing gives you meaning, congratulations.
So why am I “X”? X being whatever such thing plagues you. Be it sickness mentally or physically, or maybe an aesthetic condition. The answer is a complex. It involves multiple aspects of genetics and situational circumstances. The gritty truth, it doesn’t matter. You are. So you be.
But why is the world so bad with…? Disease, hunger, war, persecution, oppression… see above, consumption. Some choose to consume more. Some choose less.
That’s it, I’m done. Some may cry. I don’t like this and I wish to leave. How can I do that? Stop consuming. It’s a guaranteed 100% effective way to cease to exist.
13 comments
I skipped dinner, so I guess that’s a start.
Although if I’m strong enough to get up tomorrow, I am seriously considering breakfast.
I feel your plight. I too have abstained since lunch. I just figured I’d do my best to answer the common questions that get repetitive.
Your best line was “it doesn’t matter”.
You never asked to be born. But you were.
Your parents never asked to be born. But they were.
What is the meaning of life?
Who cares and who knows? Anyone who says they know is full of shit and can’t be trusted. Anyone who tells you what the meaning of life is will be a person who disguises opinions as facts.
“Why does evil exist”.
Again, no one has come up with a credible answer for that. I lean towards “people are flawed and selfish. They serve themselves first”. (That’s my theory). Everyone does what’s in their best interests whether they’re conscious of it or not.
You are who you are because of nature and nurture. Part of you was molded because of your past experiences/environment, and part of you just is how you ended up thanks to your biological progenitors.
Shit happens, you play the hand that you’re dealt.
That’s it. As you said, the basis of evil is self interest, which I said, is to consume. That’s the entire basis of every society, what can I use? Kill for land, kill for oil, money, food…
I also find it suiting and ironic the popular question of what can I take to die, or how much should I take… it’s that consume mindset. I’ve noticed, overdosing rarely works. We’re that accustomed to consuming in excess.
Hmm. Maybe the solution then is to not be part of the problem.
But what about the problem that lies in the solution to the problem? lol.
@Mf; That is an excellent point.
The problem in the solution must realize they’re part of the problem before they can become an effective part of the solution.
Excellent post, Alan! I couldn’t have said it better myself. You completely nailed my world view!
Henry David Thoreau once wrote: Existence is nothing more than a brief flash of consciousness that separates to bleak eternities. I’ve never forgotten that; I’ve always held on to that idea.
Yes, WHY does it matter? It doesn’t. Exactly my thoughts. I’m here. Every day I simply try to make the best of a bad situation.
And you nailed the consumption analogy. As well as the exit path. In fact, on March 10th, 2014, that’s how my dog decided to make his exit. In 2013 he was diagnosed with stage 4 of liver disease. He was already old (12) at the time. The vet put him on a special diet and expensive meds. He did alright for the first 6 months. Then he decided he didn’t want the special food or the meds. He kept spitting them out. So rather than spend the last few months of his life fighting him and force feeding him and having the vet poke and prod him with needles and such, I opted to let nature take its course. I wanted the last months of his life to be happy… and me to have memories of that happiness. I’d still offer him the meds. Usually stuffed in treats and such. But if he spit them out, so be it. I didn’t push the issue. He started eating table scraps and normal Wal-Mart brand dog food again. He seemed to have a new lease on life. Running and playing like a puppy! However, on February 22nd, he stopped eating. It was hard. It was difficult. It was painful. Watching my little buddy slowly waste away. He lost a lot of weight. The day he died, was a warm day. We went outside and he sat on my lap in a lawn chair for most of the day. He would just sit on my lap, all wrapped in a blanket, with his face pointed at the warm sun. When the sun went down, we went inside. He curled up on his little doggie bed and went to sleep. He never woke up. What a beautiful ending to a beautiful life.
Yes, there’s a HUGE hole in my life. He was with me, every day, for nearly his entire 13 years and 2 months. I haven’t had the heart to get another dog. Or cat. Or anything. I’m not over his loss yet. I don’t think I ever will be. But yes, you are 100% correct. Stop consuming. It works. I know this first hand.
Again, thanks for your wonderful post, Alan. And your friendship.
Yup. We’re just here. No deep, philosophical, spiritual or religious meaning. We are here for no more reason than the rocks or the river or the other animals. I used to want to find meaning. Hungry for something to feed the emptiness of a meaningless existence. It led me to enter a relationship with the most batshit crazy “spiritual” guy you can imagine. It didn’t last. I could not be converted, much as I tried to put aside my rational mind for the love of this guy. I had to leave. But I think I just went off on a tangent there. Anyway, my theory for why the world sucks is greed.
Awww, I love your story! And I love that his last few days were happy. That’s how it should be for all of us.
Jeeez, I’m posting everything in the wrong place tonight. That was meant to be for iamtheblues!
Hehehe. Yeah, I got that Zelda! Thanks. And by the way, you can call me Jack if you want.
Yes, Zelda, I agree with you completely. Greed is the cause of all the bad shit in the world. It’s why human society (not the world) sucks.