Tragic Life

[monk222]

~
Rushing through the news this morning while Pop sleeps late, Monk reads a tearful story of a pet owner's loss. The angle was how far we go these days to provide medical care to ill pets, with MRIs and more surgeries. The writer went the full nine yards and ended up losing her pet still.

Her dog was named Bear, interestingly enough. Monk's emotional mind generalized to the stark reality of death, and how life is inherently unfair and despairing. He has been discussing with others again his dark and dismal view of life, life as a no-win situation, necessarily tragic rather than victorious.

The trick is to savor the little joys along the way. Nothing can be saved in the end, not even yourself, but one can get more out of it by treasuring all the little miracles that fall one's way - that smile, that laugh, that fresh rain, the lovemaking, the horseplaying, that joke, that discussion, that story, that song, that dreaming, the hope.

Of course, this doesn't answer any of the policy questions, as there are better and worse policies for achieving the greater good for the greatest number, and such is the stuff of debate and politics. Perhaps it's just a matter of perspective. Monk doesn't expect happiness and justice, though the struggle of life is to try to achieve as much as possible.

Comments

[newkanada.livejournal.com]

Despite the negative undertones, you sound pretty optimistic. I think you can find happiness even though you don't expect to.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Sure, I think there is happiness in the little things. I'm not depressed or anything. I just don't think there is some realizable state of general happiness whereby our struggles are practically done. Life is always a struggle, but one can savor the little joys during that struggle.

Thanks for the little joy of your response! :)

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

Interesting entry. Shows a nice evidence of our sort of existentialist agreeing non-agreement between us. Nice contrast for both of us to the sort of "pie in the sky when you die" types, too. Your noting "perspective" is interesitng given that the result is the same in some ways. Your seeing a no-win situation amounts to a de facto win-win, if that makes sense. The happiness and justice becomes the struggle. Life as struggle in a kind of ends and means. Victorious in that with no victory there is only substance to be had. "Realizable state of general happiness" being that our struggles will never end except in the sweetness of cold death. There is a sweetness in the darker side, I suppose. Why I say it must be treated seriously but not sat on forever.

I suppose that is the Buddhist in me coming out though in that the duality both exists and does not exist. If there can be sweetness in the darkness and cold death then life rather than lose luster as one would expect gains a sense of urgency.