Prose

Life, Philosophically

The universe exists as a distribution of mass-energy in a space-time continuum, inexorably increasing in entropy. Within the eddies of increasing entropy are formed dissipative structures which concentrate energy, albeit at a much greater dissipation in general. This evolutionary process leads to a greater concentration of power within more complex organisms. These organisms avail themselves of the energy available to them from the surrounding environment and diverts it to its' own use which tends towards the further concentration of energy and further evolutionary development.

Reality impinges upon the organism in thousands upon thousands of impulses. The organism formulates a method of organizing these into a reality towards which it can act and react in a known manner with known results. A reality in which the organism can function successfully and survive. A complex organism has not only the instantaneous response but the ability to store and order information for future use. It develops an individual identity, a context in which to respond to future stimuli. The highest degree of development in identity is the formulation of a value standard, an abstract of the code of behavior towards which it can refer in future circumstances.

The individual is in a constant process of accumulating and dissipating energy, acting as a conduit and reservoir for this energy, according to the flux surrounding it. The environment both affects and is affected by the organism as energy is exchanged. The idea of social values and organizations is to promote and consolidate the accumulation thereof.

All existence is experience of both our outer and inner worlds. Experience is a fleeting thing modified by expectation and extended by memory. Expectation climaxes in experience but frequently results in disappointment. Memory recalls the best of experience but often causes us to regret the past. It is the immediacy of life, physically and mentally, which forms the substance of life.

The individual must be open to all spheres of influence around him to have the broadest horizon. To limit an entire section of the landscape is to limit one's experience of life and the possibilities it holds. One must be discriminating but by particular not category. To appreciate each for what it is and discern the best and worst of it is the key. Limiting one's appreciation limits one's vision, and one's vision is the total appreciation of life's possibilities. To block the landscape one loses the view and with it some of the pleasure of life. Looking one sees the bad as well as the good but not to look is not to see, not to feel, not to think and not to live. It is the death of the spirit. The world lies in the realm of experience. It is my home and there is a quiet easy place in it for me.

One must take the initiative and find pleasure in the search. What lies ahead can't be anticipated but rather must be met in its time for the only reward is the present. It is this throwing of oneself into one's pursuit which constitutes the greatest joy of life and it is the pursuit rather than the accomplishment which holds the most for us as human beings. Each moment of the pursuit is an accomplishment and each accomplishment is but a stepping stone onward.

We dream of what we would do and do anything but what we dream. In our dreams lies the excitement of life but only if we live them. We must never cease to dream nor cease making our dreams come into being. We live freely, unbound by life or death. We live leisurely, to savor our moments. We live intensely for the most. We live spiritedly, always to strive.

In my life, I want to do creative work. I want to draw and paint, think and write, and discover and explore the universe. I want to experience everything and everyone, to live fully and share life abundantly, to live in love with life.

First, I am an artist, a poet, alive and in love, awed by the beauty in all things, in nature and in man, in art and in science. For beauty is the essence of life and its path is the course of my existence. To stand in rapture before beauty a lifetime as if it were but a moment and have that moment last an eternity, to no other end could it be.

Poetry | Prose | Thoughts