I’m really impressed by the fact that I hold the exact same philosophy as I did four years ago. I was just lookin’ through LJ for the post where I hint that I lost my virginity and I came upon this one first – and, like, wow. That’s the same conversation I’ve been having with my parents for the past few days.
I’m an atheist; life has no universal meaning; the constant I live by is “life is good.”
Then the rest of that post goes into talking about trolls for some reason, but it is an interesting observation that I forgot about: some don’t go by the given “life is good,” instead, they go by “MY life is good” and say fuck y’all to everyone else.
Four years ago, man! Back then stuff was great! I was readyin’ for Santa Cruz, saying goodbye to good friends for the time being, and basically recovering from one hell of an emotional summer. I was feeling anti-social, and couldn’t wait to jump into a new environment in which to make friends. Also I made this awesome quiz which I still think is pretty relevant I’d say.
Four years later I’m coming down from another pretty emotional summer, just about to move away from the Bay Area again, looking to make new friends, and preachin’ the exact same message as I once was. History repeats itself.
I’d say the biggest difference between now and then is that back then a lot of commenters were really freaking nice on LJ and I was nice back to them but now I’m a total dickhole to all of my LJ friends. Maybe I should start using mood icons again to reach for fake sympathy. Look I’m being a dickhole again
You’re really nice to me! You’re always leaving me awesome/informative comments and I don’t return the favor nearly often enough because I have a hard time thinking of stuff to say.
I shall resolve to attempt to comment more.
Aw yay thanks
Whenever a philosophy seems to stagnate for me I start to wonder more and more if it’s legitimate and if I should try and shake it up.
Agreed…sometimes one can hold onto the same bad habits for too long and just develop justifications for them rather than acknowledging them and changing them.
That’s probably a good philosophy to live by, though it is hard to think like that when one is depressed. Any suggestion?
Hmm, that’s a very good question. Had me pondering for a while. Here’s my answer:
To start off, I hope you don’t mean clinically depressed, as that’s more of an illness than a state of mind.
To be more specific, for the past few days I didn’t use the phrase “life is good” – instead, I used the term “life is important.” By that I mean, I value every living being as being somewhat irrationally important, and strive to keep them alive rather than let them die. And this is, of course, an instinctual imperative as well as a moral one – human beings are driven to keep themselves alive in the wake of constant suffering.
Whenever I’m sad or acting depressed, I usually don’t realize it. I often categorize it as boredom or loneliness rather than an actual negative feeling. I think it’s because I never was a very emotional person. When those feelings come along, I often look at them logically and say “I’m bored, so I should find something to do” or “I’m lonely, so I should hang out with friends.” That’s the sort of person I am.
Not a lot of people are like that. I think this is in direct correlation with the need for spirituality in people’s lives, as well as the need for organized religion to direct that spirituality. Maybe I don’t need that as much since I often feel that my mind is often quite clear and sound.
If it is something that needs attending to, my advice is any type of outlet, or spiritual stimulation – be it meditation, partaking in an activity, hanging out with friends, or even something creative like blogging (…let’s just say writing).
Despite having the idea that life is nothing more than a growth on the Earth’s crust, I often feel that my life has a lot of meaning because of the other people in it, or the kinds of activities I can keep myself occupied with. When I’m depressed, all I need to do is simply remind myself of all that meaning one way or the other.
If you attain value by relating to others,
then, I think, philosophically, that your life DOES have a universal meaning.
Re: If you attain value by relating to others,
No. “Universal” does not mean “relative.”
Re: If you attain value by relating to others,
it doesn’t? It means everything, so isn’t that relative?
Re: If you attain value by relating to others,
Relative to everything, life has no meaning. Relative to things that are within your scope of consciousness, life does have meaning. What meaning would life on planet Earth have to something that it will never have anything to do with?
You’re playing stupid logic and vocabulary games, and I doubt you actually know what you’re talking about, because I certainly don’t.
hm
well that exact philosophy got me out of depression a good four and some years ago. although it might have been applied differently.. i was depressed because i kept getting sad about being sad and it was just this cyclical unhappiness, so it was not too hard to get out of it by just deciding that life is awesome and finding the evidence to prove it in day-to-day life. i just forced myself to focus on the little things that make life so awesome like simple conversations and the kindness of strangers and other cute stuff like that until i didn’t have to force myself to be happy anymore because i just was.
but i guess that’s not really an answer to your question since some people are probably so depressed the whole concept could never occur to them? i was pretty sad but who knows.
anyway i think in my case the “life is good” philosophy is just my basis for a lot of other things that i attach to it, and it doesn’t really completely encompass everything i believe in. i might be giving this too much credit..
Re: hm
Exactly, it’s not an all-encompassing idea. It’s something that’s just supposed to sit in the back of my head if I ever find myself pondering something. Really, as much as I talk about philosophy I don’t let it rule my life.
Re: hm
right that’s my job
Sometimes I wonder whether I should be proud of having some of the same mindsets as I did four years ago or not. Usually I think not, because I’d rather change and learn than stay the same and ignorant, even if it takes some emotional toll along the way.
Of course, the “do cool shit” way of life hasn’t changed. It just has ups and downs. So there are certain things that are definitely positive to hold on to.
My philosophy is so elementary that I don’t think changing it is a really good idea at all. I wouldn’t call it a mindset or an attitude, which for me I believe HAS changed throughout the years. I’m more active and I attempt to be more social. My interests change, my social groups change, etc.
But I don’t really know why my philosophy, which is only there to really give life itself meaning, has to necessarily change to switch things up a bit.
life IS good.
“life” sucks, imo, but that’s why i quit.
the moment i stopped trying to “live”, and decided to try to stay alive, my life became awesome.
Making no sense isn’t cool.
What do you mean by “stay alive” instead of “live?” Context is important.
Makes a lot of sense to me. I was an artist for 10 years, but I felt that my life wasn’t a work of art. So, I decided to try to live more than spend my time creating. I’m more alive now, too.
you’re not a total dickhole to me, we just don’t comment much at each other. i miss you. you are fun.