People say that we're searching for the meaning in life. I don't think that's it at all. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our innermost being and reality., so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.
- Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
As I marvel at Aron Ralston's tenacity towards life, I can't help but to imagine myself in his situation. What would I do? How would I feel? Where would my hallucinations take me? Most of all, would I survive?
I must admit that I am one person who easily backs down when the going gets rough. Instinctively, I chicken out, I want to run away, I want to hide. Wait, perhaps the instinctive part is also a self-delusion, since these behaviours are learned and reinforced by my reactions to experiences. I doubt I'll have the courage and cool-headedness to go through the things that he did.
Recently I was just discussing with wl about the situation where we're thrown into a jungle. How well would we survive? Aron's account was a true demonstration of his grit, his strength and faith in himself. In the beginning I had difficulty following his very technical description and dismissed them as engineer blabber. But as I proceed further in his story I was hooked. It is precisely his rationality that helped him survived the most extreme circumstances. His ability to think up and pulley system with a force ratio of 6:1, his calculations of his survival chances, up to the decision making process of whether to drink his urine is weighed in a most clinical and distant way. He lived for so many days without food and water because he was able to pull himself apart from the situation and assess it rationally. Technicalities apart, the most important factor is the will to live. How much are we willing to sacrifice for our lives? Aron Ralston cut off his hand with a cheap multi-tool. He relied on his discipline and adrenaline rush to get himself out of the canyon. He did everything he could, because he loved the feeling of being alive.
How much could I say the same? The quote above which he also used in the book really forced me to rethink about my many attempts to define the meaning of life. I think I forgot that a necessary condition to that question is the ability to feel alive. There is no meaning of life if there is no life. Have I felt alive? When do I most feel alive?
Some food for thought.
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