Writer's Block: Mark my words
May. 13th, 2010 07:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellymell[Error: unknown template qotd]
I believe in order to leave the most lasting of marks on the world you have to live your life as if you mean to leave no trace whatsoever. I'm not talking carbon footprints or "off the grid". I'm talking about living as if your life is not any more important than the one next to you.
I think the whole of humanity would be better off if everyone in it lived as if they intended to leave no trace of themselves behind. But human nature fights against this at every turn with a desire for immortality in its various forms. We know our lives will be over some day and it's hard to accept that everything we've ever done or worked for will be lost once we're gone. We fear unimportance. Art is created and signed. Structures are built and labeled. Stars are discovered and named after their discoverers. Scientific theories are proven and named after their provers. Medical advancements are made... you get the point. Embracing unimportance and finding a balance between that and productivity is something I struggle with constantly. I still have lots of room to evolve.
Maybe this is why I don't know how to respond to praise...
I believe in order to leave the most lasting of marks on the world you have to live your life as if you mean to leave no trace whatsoever. I'm not talking carbon footprints or "off the grid". I'm talking about living as if your life is not any more important than the one next to you.
Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease,
Creating, yet not possessing,
Working, yet not taking credit.
Work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts forever.
- From Chapter Two of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu.
I think the whole of humanity would be better off if everyone in it lived as if they intended to leave no trace of themselves behind. But human nature fights against this at every turn with a desire for immortality in its various forms. We know our lives will be over some day and it's hard to accept that everything we've ever done or worked for will be lost once we're gone. We fear unimportance. Art is created and signed. Structures are built and labeled. Stars are discovered and named after their discoverers. Scientific theories are proven and named after their provers. Medical advancements are made... you get the point. Embracing unimportance and finding a balance between that and productivity is something I struggle with constantly. I still have lots of room to evolve.
Maybe this is why I don't know how to respond to praise...
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Re: related to this....
on 2010-05-19 01:45 pm (UTC)Many people suffer because they fail to receive recognition through vain, worldly honor, or fail to become rich in pointless, mundane things. It doesn't occur to them that in the other life - the real life - such stuff is not needed, nor can they take it with them. To that place, we can only take our works, which here and now acquire for us a passport for that great and eternal journey.
- Elder Paisios the Athonite
Re: related to this....
on 2010-05-20 04:01 pm (UTC)