“Life is… (fill in the blank).”
This was a most interesting and quite revealing question posed to participants of a dinner party I once attended.
The question was asked by an extremely learned and wise man who my readers likely know; however, I will refrain from mentioning any names other than my own in this story in order to, as they say, “protect the innocent.”
I love this question, because it goes to the essence of how one feels about his/her place in the universe. And, based on one’s answer, you can tell a lot about that person.
For example, one guest responded to the question “Life is…” with a reference to the classic film, “Forrest Gump.” That response was… “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.”
By this answer, I could tell the person was heavily influenced by pop culture. More importantly, I could tell they viewed life as a series of events that happen to them in which they are forced to react. And while it is true that events beyond our control happen to everyone every day, the essence of life is not, in my view, a series of events that we are forced to react to.
In my view, man is a being of self-made soul, and we can choose to react to events and make the world our own — if we have the mettle to do so.
This attitude was reflected in my own response to the probing “Life is…” query, which I will reveal right now: “Life is a dragon we can tame.”
Admittedly, this response came to me via a flash of self-plagiarism, as it bears a close resemblance to a lyric in a song that I wrote titled, “Un-Rearranged,” that says, “The world’s a dragon we can tame.”
But what does this actually mean, and what does it reveal about me?
It means the recognition that life is by nature a struggle and that existence is not a spectator sport. In order to survive, and especially to prevail, one must recognize first that life requires purposeful action directed via the only tool of survival man is equipped with, and that is his reason.
You see, it is only through reason that we can know what the world is made of, how it works, why things happen, how we can affect things and how we can, if you will, tame the dragon.
The dragon is, I think, an apt metaphor for life. Think about what a dragon represents. It represents all of mankind’s most primal fears wrapped up in one mythical creature. A giant serpent that flies, and that also breathes deadly fire!
Indeed, humans have long been inculcated with fear of the serpent, and it’s no surprise that one makes such a dastardly appearance as the deceptive trickster who promotes what God has forbidden in the Book of Genesis.
Then there’s the fire factor, of which humans are deathly afraid, and whose destructive powers must at all times be guarded against. Then, there is the flight element, a factor that humans have long marveled at, but that until very recently in our history could neither comprehend nor harness.
So, life is indeed a dragon — but it’s one we can tame, and we can tame it because we have a tool, i.e., our rational faculty, that allows us to study our primal fears, unpack the reality of those fears, figure out solutions to the problems creating those fears — and then to take the kind of human action needed to conquer those fears.
I think what this says about me is that I am a man directed by rational action, and one who sees the world as a place where the achievement of values is possible despite the struggle.
Or, stated more poetically, I’m a man who knows that life is a dragon we can tame.
Ok, now it’s time for you to weigh in. So, please send me an email with your answer to the question: “Life is…”
I am very eager to discover what you have to say to this probing question, and you can bet that I will be presenting my favorite answers in a future issue of The Deep Woods, so make your response count!
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San Francisco and Human Nature
Down in Hayes Valley, there’s a lot of good restaurants
Deep in the Tenderloin you can have anything you want
Over in the Mission it’s always a sunny day
It’s a real good baseball town but my team is across the bay
–Brett Dennen, “San Francisco”
Singer/songwriter Brett Dennen’s melodically moving “San Francisco” paints a lyrical picture of one of my very favorite cities in the world. Sadly, “The City” isn’t what it was when I used to spend summers there in the late-1980s, and that has a lot to do with some really bad politics. But politics aside, the song lyrics I sampled here for this week’s quote teach us something very interesting about human nature. You see, we always tend to want what we don’t have, even if what we have is superabundance.
Referring to San Francisco’s various neighborhoods, Dennen notes that Hayes Valley and the Tenderloin is where the great food can be found. The Mission district is always bright and bouncy, and the San Francisco Giants are a great and storied franchise. Yet, despite all that, Dennen’s team is the one across the bay in Oakland. Yes, we tend to want what we can’t have. But if you want true happiness in life, it’s also wise to recognize what you do have, and want that — even if your team is across the bay and headed to Las Vegas.
Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.
In the name of the best within us,
Jim Woods
