Existential Thoughts

A friend had blogged recently about existentialism. Actually, he was asked if he was an existentialist. He replied that it would be interesting if life really was what we make of it.

And, like so many other things that do, the subject reminded me of Laila. This time, about Laila's fascination with death. Everything lying motionless on the ground is patay. And she says this with a twinkle in her eyes and accompanied with a thumping 'duuhhg' like how I imagine the sound a corpse would make as it hit the pavement.

During a walk she asked me why leaves were lying on the ground instead of being up in the tree and why the leaves on the ground are brown. I explained to her that those were old leaves and they fall off to give space for young leaves to grow.

Much like where we are now. People die to give space for the next generation.

And then that thought reminded me of an email I received; copies of notes written by young children to God. One kid there told God that instead of letting people die, He should just keep the ones He has so He wouldn't have to create new ones every so often. So deep for someone so young, huh.

A corollary idea to this would be man's fixation over the afterlife, of reincarnation. There are those who feel that being here, now wouldn't account for much if we simply cease to be after we die. Immortality. Even if being immortal means leaving behind one's corporeal body and moving on as a spirit, a form of energy or what have you. Or if it means being reborn as another person or perhaps a snail or algae depending on what you've done with the life you previously lived.

Living on after death is a sweet thought. But living the life I have now is already sweet for me.

P.S. For those those who emerged from philosophy class in college with only a little more knowledge than what they had on the first day of school:

Existentialism is a philosophical movement teaching that individual people create and determine the meaning and essence of their lives, that human beings are free--i.e. not controlled by fate--and responsible for their actions.