| The Journey On a late night excursion to the grocery store for various perishable foodstuffs which were completely unnecessary I was struck by the indelible notion spouted by myriad maxims that life is a journey. Regardless of how this notion was spawned by my voyage to the store it contains a bit of veracity that should be examined more carefully, which I will leave for someone else as I quickly brush upon the notion in a short work of prose. To aptly describe and later decipher a journey one must find its origin, which in most cases is quite simple; fortunately, this is one of those cases. Any not so astute individual could easily determine that the beginning of life is birth, but the journey of life begins not with birth. What then does it begin with? The first step in a young individual’s life is differentiation from its environment. However, this is not the start, but solely the preparation. As the young one becomes prepared and cognitively capable of undertaking more strenuous activities than simply finding the boundaries between him and the world he begins the quest of life, which, like that of the grail, is a whimsical torrent of pain and strife until the end. This point of departure, marred with lack of understanding and a callow cognition, set the stage for a great act in futility. Another note of discussion is the length of the journey. Indeed many are correct when they state the quest is arduous throughout its span but their fallibility becomes obvious when they state that it is short. They say this because they have heard the aged say it, but they are unaware that the past always seems to have gone quickly. Due to perception fifty years may seem to have gone in an instant whilst the present moment seems likes seems as though time has failed to remember its own existence. Of course, perception is not reality and therefore such comments by the aged should be disregarded. Well, regardless of what the old say, an individual may choose to compare the finite span of the journey to time’s eternal existence. But this parallel is unsound for any event would seem short compared to the infinite, hence this sort of parallel is wholly inconclusive. Without any real way to judge the duration the voyage since there is nothing with which it can be fruitfully compared one must analyze the previously disregarded notions spawned by perception. Through a thorough examination of the perception of the past it can be conclusively established that it is fallacy because it is, in fact, hindsight, and hindsight distorts perception. Consequently, the perception of the journey’s passage in the present must be true by default. As indicated earlier, this perception characterizes moments as having an almost infinite duration. If all these moments were summed the result would be a duration seeming even closer to infinite. Thus, it is undeniable that life is long. Comprising the voyage is a variety of events which are accompanied by a spectrum of emotions and morals. Of these are joyous occasions such as copulation, procreation, anniversaries and commemorations. But these events are few and constitute a miniscule portion of the journey. Much more characteristic of the journey are the incidents which cause pain and strife. Early on burdens are placed upon an individual and later are further compounded with unforeseen plights and maladies. Nearing its conclusion loss becomes much more prevalent, fully encompassing every aspect of its nature. Finally, it culminates with the greatest loss of all, one’s own existence. Whilst the final breathe is drawn, the last words are uttered and the pallid visage contorts laboriously this most terrible event occurs with its despair, its horror. Yes, if one takes into account all the wretched occurrences in a life and compares those to the pleasurable ones one would find that the wretched indisputably exceed the paltry pleasurable ones. Verily, the journey is painful. Indeed, the journey is a peculiar thing which possesses a meaning all its own. Many, having read previous doctrines, may be so callow as to state that propagation is its meaning, but they have undoubtedly mistaken the meaning of life for the meaning of the journey. You see, the object of the journey is not to unleash one’s progeny to ravage the earth but to become enlightened. Of course, enlightenment is not easily attained, adding to the already incredible strife of the journey, and is hindered by the countless moral and cognitive impositions by the multitude. Furthermore, those that actually achieve this nigh impossible task would be subject to dissociation from society. However, none actually do become enlightened – it is unattainable. Yet, each one strives in futility to procure it. Yes, attempting to achieve enlightenment is pointless. And though it may induce one to undertake the journey what use would it be when it is all over. Nonexistence requires not enlightenment – it has no prerequisites. Enlightenment, the meaning of the journey, is futile, hence the journey is meaningless. The journey is meaningless. Hence, the journey is long, painful and, worst of all, meaningless. And through this notion the nihilists rise from within to claim the souls who have undertaken the endeavor. |