To Be Human - Part 1

I was reflecting on what it must be like to be a fully intelligent, free-willing being in a place other than earth, let's say heaven for example. In my reflection, I first pondered on the purpose of humanity and the meaning of existence. I realized that in life, we are preoccupied with items and cares, which on one hand define our living—for these items we live for (e.g. family, health, education, religion, charity, etc.). On the other hand, these very items, some more than others, consume our being until the day we are rendered fully inconsumable in death and are emptied of life (i.e. physical, emotional, temporal). For a lifetime, however long that might be, we toil in the establishments and maintenance of romantic and familial relationships, personal health and well-being, intellectual and career pursuits, religious activities, charity towards our fellow humans and society, and many more. In one sense, we spend our humanity in these life items and activities— placing our affections, hopes, and energies in these activities more than we would like to admit. In the other sense, and ironically, we are spent by these very items as they draw out all of our affections, hopes, and energies. I will come back to that point later. But before I do, I will mention one important point. If we lived in a perfect world, we would find the pursuit of those life actives and the results thereof to be perfectly satisfying and perhaps less painful, less disappointing, easier to achieve, requiring less of our energy, and delivering more of the happiness we hoped for. We are continually disappointed, in some life activities more than others.