5 posts tagged “meaning”
I've been meaning to get around to writing about why harmonization touches me on such a spiritual level...but after this Sunday...I couldn't not. :)
The church Ben and I go to has little to no instruments other than the voices of the people. And almost every song is set up so that each member has his/her own specific harmony. It starts off with one part, everyone singing the same...then gradually people take on different parts, until the sound that fills the room is gloriously complex and beautiful.
But it's not just the beauty that gets to me. The whole concept itself is an allegory that resonates with my spiritual view. Each distinct voice, separate, comes together to blend into one complex and beautiful sound that could not be made without each voice. And then I can alternate my perception...first, hear the bass, then tune into the soprano...and then shift so I can only here the one sound of them all combined.
I love it. Especially when one of the voices is a cat trying to sing along, like this Sunday. She had the most perfect timing too. She'd meow after every phrase of the song. It was hilarious and awesome. :)
I picked this one because I was talking about it on a message board. Here you go:
It happens from time to time.
I spend a lot of my time reading about and discussing religion.
As my beliefs can sometimes be a bit non-traditional as far as metaphysics and cosmology go, I spend a lot of time helping people understand that part of my view, especially atheists and analytic philosophers.
I don't like that.
When I start discussing metaphysics too much, I feel so disconnected.
I almost want to tell people that it doesn't matter, that other things are more urgent and more live-giving than arguing about what is at the center of the universe.
But when I tell people that, they want to know why, and the discussion goes all metaphysical again.
I feel connected when we talk about the common things, when we talk about joy, consolation, and bliss.
But even more so when we talk about pain, suffering, and the struggle to find meaning...not in the universe, but in our lives.
I feel most connected when I talk about those times when joy and suffering become inseparable and intertwined.
These things feel real.
I guess I'm suffering from abstraction.
I miss the finite.
After watching the season finale of Heroes last night, I thought it might be interesting to string together all of Mohinder's voiceovers that run in the beginning and end of each episode. Here is the result. Does it make any sense, does it say anything profound?
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Where does it come from—this quest, this need to solve life's mysteries when the simplest of questions can never be answered? Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps we'd be better off not looking at all. Not delving, not yearning. But that's not human nature. Not the human heart. That is not why we are here.
This quest, this need to solve life's mysteries—in the end, what does it matter when the human heart can only find meaning in the smallest of moments? They're here—among us. In the shadows, in the light, everywhere. Do they even know yet?
We all imagine ourselves the agents of our destiny, capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise or when we fall? Or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand? Does science point our way? Or is it God who intervenes, keeping us safe?
For all his bluster, it is the sad province of man that he cannot choose his triumph. He can only choose how he will stand when the call of destiny comes, hoping that he will have the courage to answer.
When evolution selects its agents, it does so at a cost. It makes demands in exchange for singularity, and you may be asked to do something against your very nature. Suddenly, the change in your life that should have been wonderful comes as a betrayal. It may seem cruel, but the goal is nothing short of self-preservation, survival.
This force, evolution, is not sentimental. Like the earth itself, it knows only the hard facts of life's struggle with death. All you can do is hope and trust that when you've served its needs faithfully, there may still remain some glimmer of the life you once knew.
Sometimes questions are more powerful than answers. How is this happening? What are they? Why them and not others? Why now? What does it all mean?
When a change comes, some species feel the urge to migrate. They call it zugunruhe, a pull of the soul to a far off place. Following a scent in the wind, a star in the sky. The ancient message comes calling the kindred to take flight and gather together. Only then can they hope to survive te cruel season to come.
Evolution is an imperfect and often violent process. A battle between what exists and what is yet to be born. In the midst of these birth pains, morality loses its meaning, the question of good and evil reduced to one simple choice: survive or perish.
You do not choose your destiny; it chooses you, and those who knew you before fate took you by the hand can not understand the depth of the changes inside. They cannot fathom how much you stand to lose in failure. That you are the instrument of a flawless design, and all of life may hang in the balance. The hero learns quickly who can comprehend and who merely stands in your way
The earth is large — large enough that you think you can hide from anything. From fate, from god — if only you found a place far enough away. So you run. To the edge of the earth, where all is safe again — quiet and warm. The solace of salt air. The peace of danger left behind. The luxury of grief. And maybe for a moment you believe you have escaped.
You can run far. You can take your small precautions, but have you really gotten away? Can you ever escape? Or is the truth that you do not have the strength or cunning to hide from destiny? But the world is not small, you are. And fate can find you anywhere.
We are, if anything, creatures of habit. Drawn to the safety and comfort of the familiar. But what happens when the familiar becomes unsafe. When the fear that we have desperately been trying to avoid finds us where we live.
We are all, at our cores, the sum of our fears. To embrace destiny, we must inevitably face those fears, and conquer them, whether they come from the familiar or the unknown.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose. The earth spins at a thousand miles an hour as we desperately try to keep from being thrown off, like the first blush of winter that signals the great migration. Is there any warning for their arrival? A sign? A single event that set this chain into motion? Was it a whisper in God’s ear? Survive. Adapt. Escape. And if we could mark that single moment in time – that first hint of the prophecy of approaching danger… if we had done anything differently, could it have been stopped? Or was the die long ago cast? And if we could go back, alter its course, stop it from happening, would we?
These people – their future is written on their DNA. Just as the past, it seems, is written in stone. Was the die cast from the very beginning, or is it in our own hands to alter the course of destiny? Of all our abilities, it is free will that truly makes us unique. With it, we have a tiny but potent chance to deny fate. And only with it can we find our way back to being human.
In the beginning there was discovery. A confusion of elements. The first snowfall of impossible change. Old lives undone - left behind. Strange faces made familiar. New nightmares to challenge sleep. New friends to feel safe with. Only then comes control - the need to impose order unto chaos. Through determination, through study, through struggle... all in defiance of a thundering truth. They're here, and the earth shudders under foot.
When we embrace what lies within, our potential has no limit. The future is filled with promise; the present rife with expectation. When we deny our instinct, and struggle against our deepest urges, uncertainty begins. Where does this path lead? When will the changes end? Is this transformation a gift or a curse? For those who fear what lies ahead, the most important question of all: Can we ever really change what we are?
To survive in this world, we hold close to us those people on whom we depend. We trust in them our hopes, our fears. But what happens when trust is lost? Where do we run when things we believe in vanish before our eyes? When all seems lost, the future unknowable, our very existence in peril... all we can do is run.
Linderman: People think I collect art. What I really collect are lives fixed in paint. The perfect moment capturing an entire existence, made immortal. A monster's fight to survive, and live to kill again. A mother willing to fracture her own soul to protect her child. A youth's struggle for innocence, despite life's cruelty. The double-edged lies needed to sustain a double-edged life. A wondering hero's pure joy at success — and his darkest hour, when all the world seems lost. All perfect moments frozen in time. Alone, each tells a single story. Together, they can tell the future.
Where does it come from—this quest, this need to solve life's mysteries when the simplest of questions can never be answered? Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps we'd be better off not looking at all. Not delving, not yearning. But that's not human nature. Not the human heart. That is not why we are here. Yet still we struggle to make a difference, to change the world, to dream of hope; never knowing for certain whom we will meet along the way. Who among the world of strangers will hold our hand, touch our hearts, and share the pain of trying.
We dream of hope, we dream of change, of fire, of love, of death. And then it happens. The dream becomes real and the answer to this quest, this need to solve life's mysteries, finally shows itself like the glowing light of the new dawn. So much struggle for meaning, for purpose, and in the end, we find it only in each other. OUr shared experienced in the fantastic and the mundane. The simple human need to find a kindred, to connect, and to know in our hearts that we are not alone.
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Also, any reactions to the season finale?
So that we can easily go back and add to discussions, this post is simply a collection of all of the posts on this book. Feel free to add more posts though, because I will go back and edit this if you add anything.
Discussions on The Unbearable Lightness of Being:
Lightness or Weight? - Which is preferable, lightness or weight?
Kitsch - What is kitsch? Also see Laura's post here.
Compassion - The devil's gift?
Body vs. Soul - Is there really a dichotomy?
Ben's Thoughts - The pursuit of lightness creates weight, and vice versa. (Dead link, as Ben has made his post private)
Meaning - How do we compose meaning in our lives?
Summary of Quotes/Topics - Quotes/ideas from the book on a variety of topics. Go here for ideas for new things you can post about.
American Beauty - Relating the themes of Unbearable Lightness to the movie American Beauty.
ULB Opinion Poll - Share your favorite character, moment, etc!
ULB The Movie - Share your thoughts on the movie version of Unbearable Lightness. History of the movie by Laura here.
Kitsch, Utopia, and Collective Consciousness - Exploration of how we can really enact change in the world.
