Stagnancy Kills Life - Essay Example

Stagnancy kills life History is an interesting part of human life. It is said that life should flow like a river. Stagnancy kills life. Hence, ‘change’ is the name of life. History is a witness to changes that have occurred in every aspect of human life. The way people used to dress, talk, eat, socialize and live their lives hundred years ago was very different from how people dress, talk, eat, socialize and live today, i.e. in the year 2010. This time capsule was created in 2010 and was intended to be opened 100 years from now. If you have found this time capsule, it means that you are looking at a capsule which is hundred year old and has a taste of the way the life was lived in 2010. I am a simple human being who is living a simple life in the state of Texas in a city called El Paso in country called the United States of America. I am not a philosopher or a psychologist or a millionaire to have a brilliant outlook towards life. Hence, what is stored in this time capsule is a genuine representation of the way the common people lived their life in the year 2010. It will give you an idea about how an ordinary life of mine was transformed into an extraordinary life because of the brilliant contributions in the field of music, literature, art, movies, cultural phenomenon etc. Looking at the past, I can see that there has been a tremendous change in the lifestyle of people with inventions of machineries and computers. However, one can definitely realize that even if the material and social aspects of life have changed, the emotional and the mental aspects of human beings have remained the same. That is, the emotions of love, affection, bonding, fear and comfort are the same as it was hundreds of years back. Also, the mental aspects like ambition, desires, power and basic needs have remained the same. This shows that even though the external means through which people try to fulfill their internal needs have changed from ages to ages, the basic human tendencies have remained same from ages. Hence, I am sure that the time capsule that I am going to leave to be opened after hundred years will help the people who open it to realize that no matter what changes a human being goes through on the material level, or how much ‘modern’ he becomes, his need for human touch will always remain the same. My intention of leaving a time capsule is to let the future generation know that what brings the fulfillment and satisfaction in human life is not the social success and material wealth that he achieves but the emotional bonding, harmony, happiness and freedom that he enjoys in life. This capsule was created by a person, i.e. me, who led a simple life in the country of USA. As I represent the majority of the population of USA, I can describe the way people live their lives and carry out the daily functions in this country. Also, as the condition of the country affects its population to great extent, I consider it my duty to throw a light on different aspects of USA. The current president of USA is a man belonging to a black community. This in itself shows that there is a great cultural transformation in the country and people have become open and have started respecting individuals belonging to different cultures and communities. USA is considered a land of dreams. This belief has attracted thousands of people from neighboring countries to migrate to USA. Also, with the development of computers and software industries, USA has attracted people from faraway countries in Asia to migrate here and become a citizen of USA. This has made USA a hub of multicultural environment and has introduced the people from USA to different cultures, music, art, lifestyle, traditions and family values. A typical day in the family starts at about 6 to 7 am. Most of the times, in the family of husband, wife and their children, it is the wife who is responsible to get the kids out of bed and get them ready for school. Breakfast is usually of cereals or bread. Wife also prepares the snacks for children and after getting them ready, she gets busy in getting ready for her work. Children are either dropped to school by parents or a school bus comes to pick them up. After returning from school, children either play or do their home-works. Watching favorite programs on television is one of the most loved activities of children. Parents do their best to keep children away from TV and video games. At night, wife prepares dinner and is helped by children or husband. Dinner is one such activity that brings the family together. After dinner, the family prepares for next day by getting the dresses ready, preparing snacks and checking the schedules. After making preparations for next day, it is time for bed. This routine goes on from Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday is a weekend time where people get weekly holiday from schools and work. Weekend is spent in different leisure activities like going for games, movies, eating out in restaurant, going for picnic, visiting close relatives etc. This is the way a life is spent by a typical American family. An Example Of Morality And Decision-making In Current Culture The way people think, behave and take decisions about their lives is highly influenced by the cultural and traditional values they are brought up with. The religion and the beliefs people follow have a great effect on their outlook towards life. For example, people belonging to Muslim community have restrained attitude towards freedom of women while people belonging to Christian community believe in total freedom of women. In short, what influences their opinions and the lifestyles are the moral beliefs that they have. To understand how morality influences people, it is necessary to understand what ‘morality’ actually is. Morality of a particular “community consists of those ways of behavior which each member of the community is taught, bidden and encouraged to adopt by other members” of the community ( Whiteley, 1970, p.22). From the definition is it clear that people are expected not only to follow certain rules set by the community but also pressurized to follow them even if they do not agree with them. So, people who attempt to break the rules set by the society are called immoral in their actions. In today’s fast paced and materially driven life, many young people are choosing to live a lifestyle which is considered as immoral by the elders in the family. One such example of morality and decision-making in current culture that comes to my mind is an issue of open marriage. Open marriage is a marriage in which the partners agree not to put any restrictions on the lifestyle of the other partner. It also means that they can have relationships of sexual nature outside marriage. However, even though this arrangement of ‘no restrictions’ in marriage seems very nice and beautiful from outside, it has many flaws and dangers to it. Due to the possessive nature of human mind, there are strong possibilities of jealousy getting aroused in an open marriage (Baumgart, 1985, p.20). No matter how open or broadminded one thinks one is, the sexual union makes a person so close to the other that he later finds it impossible to live in the agreements of an open marriage. If a person decides to stay in an open marriage with the fear of losing the other partner completely, then the feeling of love is lost from the marriage and it become a marriage of convenience (Baumgart, 1985, p.62). It is like living a dead life without love, support and understanding. Unfortunately, in an attempt to lead a free, independent and ‘cool’ life, young people are going against their elders without thinking about the dangers and hazards of the lifestyle they are adopting. The sooner they realize the value of love, support, tradition and culture, the better it will be for their emotional and mental happiness. After all, if a certain thing does not make you happy, then there is no point in following it. It is happiness which makes human life complete. Definition Of Happiness Happiness is a feeling which gives a sense of fulfillment, peace and harmony to a person. Every human being tries, in some way or other, to attain happiness in life. However, most of them are not able to find happiness and remain unhappy throughout their life. The reason for people finding it so difficult to be happy is that they do not understand the true nature of happiness. In the past, people led a very simple life and were content with what they had. But in today’s modern world, people have given extreme importance to material comfort and have stopped nourishing the spiritual and emotional aspects of life. Hence, to understand what true happiness is, one has to refer to the definitions given by philosophers and mystics. Only they can help people find happiness in their life. According to Osho, a mystic from India, happiness is an internal phenomenon and is not something that depends on external factors (Osho, 2002, p.25). He says that if a person tries to find happiness in external things like job, relationship, material possessions or social status, then he will remain unhappy forever (Osho, 2002, p.25). Happiness depends on your internal feelings and emotions. When a person becomes calm by being aware of his constantly wavering mind, then he can become happy and fulfilled (Osho, 2002, p.25). Osho says that the major obstacle in achieving a happy life is the ego of human being (Chaitanya, 2004, p. 162). People’s ego is making them more and more ambitious and is driving them to take extreme steps to fulfill their ambitions. People are spending more time in office than at home, spending less time with family, buying bigger cars to show off their wealth and in an attempt to achieve success, they are ignoring the needs of their body, mind, soul and heart. They think that by achieving success and wealth, they will find happiness. The key to happiness is to let go of the desire to be happy (Chaitanya, 2004, p.163). Happiness is found when one is free from all desires and ambitions and when one lives in harmony with nature rather than going against it. However, it has been observed that people are not free because their idea of freedom is wrong. To find happiness, one has to understand what true freedom means. Definition Of Freedom Freedom has become the most sought after thing in today’s world. It was the idea of freedom that forced governments of different nations to establish democracy. People wanted to be free from slavery and wanted to live a life according to their will and desire. However, somewhere along the path, they became so dependent on external things like money, job, machines, social status and material comforts that they completely lost their freedom and became slave of these things. In an attempt to become ‘someone’ great, people started nourishing their ambitions rather than their emotional needs. According to Krishnamurti, when one stops struggling to become ‘someone’, one becomes free (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.1). Human being can become free not only when he is free from the rules and regulations of other people but also when he achieves freedom from his desires, ambitions and goals. In a spiritual language, a person can become free when he stops thinking about the future and remains in the ‘now’ (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.3). The idea of future snatches away the freedom to live the present and hence, he becomes a slave to the mind. He forgets to enjoy his life in the present and to relax in self acceptance. This makes him very unhappy. People think that they will be free when they get a job, become financially independent and live separate from their family. However, Krishnamurti has explained that isolation brings misery and sorrow (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.4). As human being is the product of the universe and nature, he cannot find happiness if he tries to move away from people. He has to find freedom from his idea of isolation and only then will he be free (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.4). Also, a true freedom is not possible when a person lives under the psychological fear or desire (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.9). Freedom comes when a person is happy in being himself and stops running after becoming someone (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.11). When a person starts living his life according to his gut feelings and listens to his heart rather than his mind, he becomes peaceful and happy (Krishnamurti, 1992, p.12). When a person listens to his heart, he gets in sync with the nature and his innate soul purpose and hence, he becomes free from the bondage of selfish and egoistic desires. Hence, a true freedom comes from inside and not from outside. A Significant Literary Work The literature work that stands out as one of the best in this century is the novel by Alexander Dumas called ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ is a story of a young man called Edmond Dantes, who is deceived by his friends and by people in authoritative position because of their jealousy and hatred towards his success and happy life ( Clark 2000). They conspire to put him in prison by creating false charges against him ( Clark 2000). He is thrown in the most dreaded prison of all called Chateau D'If ( Clark 2000). Depressed with the turn of events in his life and losing all the hope for future, he decides to end his life by remaining hungry ( Clark 2000). However, a chance encounter with Abbe Faria saves him from dying. Abbe Faria not only imparts the vast knowledge of languages, literature and science to Edmond but also explains him how his own friends have deceived him. After 14 years in prison, Edmind escapes, finds the treasure that Abbe Faria tells him about and takes a revenge on people who had deceived him ( Clark 2000). This is one of the most amazing adventure stories written by Alexander Dumas. The book is a genius piece of literature because it explores every emotion of a human being. Through different characters, Dumas has touched different faces of human beings. Reading the book takes you to the era of Edmond Dantes and makes you feel every emotion that he feels. It gives immense pleasure to read how Edmond transforms into a learned and mature person from being an innocent person with the help of Abbe Faria. It is an inspiring story which teaches the reader how to find hope and strength even in the most adverse situations. A Significant Example Of An Art A significant example of art is a fictional character named ‘Jeeves’ created by P.G.Wodehouse. Jeeves is a valet who works for Master Bertie Wooster and solves every problem that his master faces. P.G. Wodehouse wrote that Jeeves was an answer to his search for a character that would solve the problems in Bertie and his friend’s lives as they did not have the “mental capacity to solve it” themselves (Jasen, 2002, p.57). The stories of Bertie and Jeeves are so memorable, delightful and intelligently funny that people immediately fall in love with them and read them again and again. The way Jeeves talks, the way he behaves, his ‘one liners’ and his manners are a rich treat to a reader. Reading the stories which has Jeeves in it is such a wonderful experience that the reader believes that life has become more joyous because of Jeeves. Hence, he is a significant example of art in this century. A Significant Song The song that has made a great impact on me is ‘I have a dream’ by a Swedish band called ‘Abba’. Abba was a band that rose to fame in the mid 1970’s. Their music was great and their songs were meaningful. Their songs had an amazing flavor of emotions, light heartedness, pleasure and romance about it. With simple lyrics related to simple situations in life, they won the hearts of millions of music lovers across the world. ‘I have a dream’ is a song which is inspiring and entertaining at the same time. In this song, there is an element of imagination and spirituality to help people understand that even if they experience failure in their life, they should become like a child and believe in angels. This attitude will help them to cope with any adversary they face in life. It also describes how people should try to focus on the positive side of others and find goodness in them rather than finding fault in their personalities. This song is beautifully composed. It gives inspiration and strength every time one hears it. A Significant Film One of the most significant movies of this century is a movie called ‘The Truman Show’. It is a story of a man whose life made into a TV show without him knowing about it. It is one of the significant movies because it has shown how people have become addicted to television and have become slave to the media. The movie is significant because whatever is shown in the movie is a true representation of real life. People have become so addicted to TV and stardom that they have lost touch with reality. They like living in illusion and get so emotionally attached to the fictional characters that their moods depend on whatever happens on TV. Moreover, the movie also throws a light on the way the media companies take disadvantage of people’s addiction to the media. The media has become powerful by manipulating the information and making people believe what they want them to believe. Without knowing that they are being influenced by media to a great extent, people begin to believe in whatever is shown to them without trying to know if it is right or wrong. In this way, media has become very powerful and has an influence on almost every aspect of people’s life. For example, through advertisements and TV characters, people are being convinced to eat and drink those food items which are harmful for their health. This has been shown in the movie when some of the characters try to endorse different products by associating it with Truman. ‘The Truman Show’ is an excellent example of how media is manipulating the thinking pattern of people by feeding them with wrong ideas through the power of visual illusion. A Significant Popular Culture Item A significant popular culture item of this century has to be a credit card as it completely changed the scenario of financial world and also lives of people. Credit card has made people to dream of buying those things which they had never thought of buying before. Credit card has affected the lives of people in many ways. It has added some advantages to the way people do their monetary transactions. However, because of its concept of ‘buy now pay later’, it has proved disastrous for those people who do not have control over their spending habits (Evans & Schmalensee, 2005, p.45). It has been observed that with the advent of credit card, people have started buying those things which they were not able to afford initially (Evans & Schmalensee, 2005, p.95). It was as if they started “to spend the money they didn’t have yet” (Evans & Schmalensee, 2005, p.95). The ability to buy things without having to pay in cash has made people become irresponsible with their shopping habits (Evans & Schmalensee, 2005, p.45). This led people to take huge amount of debt (Evans & Schmalensee, 2005, p.45). Hence, even though credit card made life very easy and has expedited the transactions, it has also created problems in life of people by making them losing a touch with reality and making them believe that with credit card in their hand, they can buy anything they want to. Conclusion Selecting a significant item from different aspects of human life was a difficult thing to do. There are so many things that have changed the way people live their life that selecting just one from those item was an unfair thing to do. However, there was an important purpose in selecting the above items. Through the items like song, art, literary work, popular culture item and movie, I have tried to show a picture of a typical life of human being in 2010. The movie is an excellent example of the influence of the media on human beings and the popularity of credit card shows how, in the process of becoming rich quick, people are losing a touch with reality. The literary work shows that people still enjoy the concept of victory of good over evil and the love for fictional character ‘Jeeves’ shows that they still have taste for humor and companionship. The selection was intended to show that people living in the year 2010 are those people who have realized the value of fellow human beings, relationships, harmony and peace after going though a turbulent phase of dominance by materialistic desires in their lives. Hence, the items that are selected show the facets of different aspects of human life in the year 2010. References Baumgart, H. (1985). Jealousy: Experiences and Solutions. Chicago, IL: The university of Chicago Press. Clark, G. (2000). GradeSaver: The Count of Monte Cristo Study Guide : Short Summary. Retrieved from http://www.gradesaver.com/the-count-of-monte-cristo/study- guide/short-summary/ Chaitanya, A. (2004). Our Beloved Osho. India: Diamond Books. Evans, D.S. & Schmalensee, R. (2005). Paying with Plastic: The digital Revolution in buying and borrowing. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Jasen, D.A. (2002). P.G. Wodehouse: A Portrait Of A Master. London, UK: Music Sales Limited. Krishnamurti, J. (1992). On Freedom. London, UK: Victor Gollancz Ltd. Osho. (2002). Everyday Osho: 365 Daily Meditations for Here and Now. Gloucester, MA: Fair Winds Press. Whiteley, C.H. (1970). On defining ‘moral’. In G.Wallace & A.D.M.Walker (Eds.), The Definition of Morality (pp. 21-25). London, UK: The Camelot Press Ltd. Read More