By Mitch Fahey, Staff Writer, Emerson College
“Life is hard.” I cannot count how many times I’ve heard that overused, yet accurate, phrase. The concept of life is difficult to grasp. I personally have never been able to make sense of life – why am I doing what I’m doing? Where exactly is life taking me? I have never had the guidance of religion to tell me the purpose of my life, and I don’t have any central beliefs that are a driving force for anything I’ve ever done. Last summer, though, something changed: I discovered philosophy. It started out as just a hobby when I first picked up Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul. I had previously read a similar book about Batman and psychology, which I liked, so I decided to give this one a try. I was immediately captivated. Later in the summer, my girlfriend got me a few philosophy books and my interest grew even more. I began to seek out other works with similar ideas and concepts. Reading these books taught me a lot about myself and about life, but two distinct ideas in particular really hit home for me. I believe that in order to live a happy and fulfilling life, I should try and live by these ideas: Friedrich Nietzche’s theory of eternal recurrence, which taught me to accept life’s good and bad, and Taoism’s concept of wu wei, which taught me to go with the flow.
In Nietzche’s book, Zarathustra, he discusses his theory of life as an eternal recurrence. He says life has no beginning or end, but it’s a repetition of the same life over and over. He maintains that, with all the sadness, wrongdoing, and suffering in life, one may feel despair if they were to live this life with the same pain and joy infinitely. But he says this idea is an attitude towards life that helps overcome the feeling of its meaninglessness. Whether or not life is truly an eternal recurrence doesn’t matter – it’s important to understand that life is filled with both happiness and sadness. When I read this, I gained an entirely new perspective. I now realize that few things can truly be upsetting in the scope of my life as a whole. Past actions or choices I’ve made, whether foolish or prudent, fortuitous or achieving, all are a necessity in my learning about myself and growing into the person I can and will ultimately become. Although there are many limitations in life, taking this attitude to heart allows me to face all the happiness and suffering of life, and eventually move forward knowingly and freely. It is important to remember that we need sadness to remind us how beautiful happiness can be. After learning this concept, I am so much more at ease whenever anything in my life goes wrong.
Upon discovering Taoism, I learned about the fascinating theory of wu wei. “Wu” can be translated as “not have or without.” “Wei” can be translated as “do, act, or effort.” The literal meaning of wu wei is "without action," "without effort," or "without control.” A better way to think of it is as a paradoxical “action without action" or "effortless doing.” One important part about wu wei is that one cannot actively pursue it. It is more of an examination of one’s behavior after one releases conscious control of their life and accepts who they are. Another major part of this concept is that a Taoist person performs all of their actions with a natural, unforced attitude by going along with the true nature of the world and letting things take their natural course. As I understand it, wu wei is about forging a state of being where our actions are effortlessly united with the flow of the natural world. Once I learned to live like this, I felt much more at peace, as it really helped me respond better to all situations in life. Living life as a “river” will not stop a person from being proactive, but it shows them that their activities should fit into the natural pattern of the universe and therefore we can be detached, disinterested, and not ego-driven. By adopting wu wei into my life, I learned not to force anything – when I am passive, I notice that things always work out the way they should.
The key to life is how we choose to act in relation to the natural processes already extant; the ability to let go of thoughts and actions that may hinder the flow of events of our natural life. By learning to eliminate unnecessary action and stress in my life and just simply doing what needs to be done, life feels effortless and pure. I understand now that life is all about balance and harmony and the way to find peace and happiness is to live on the basis that the world is working properly and there is no need for interference.
This new awareness that I discovered over the past summer wasn’t one of those “I was lost and now I have found something” type of situations. I’m also not trying to push any ideas on anybody. I do think, however, that other people can really benefit from these ideas as I have. Eternal recurrence and wu wei helped me find more understanding in my own life and I truly believe that both are good guides in how to find happiness and fulfillment.
Image: betterworldbooks.com
Mitch was born in a lab in wrong island New York. He is a writing for film and TV sophomore who enjoys the tender touch of a sea otter and long walks on the beach. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
“Life is hard.” I cannot count how many times I’ve heard that overused, yet accurate, phrase. The concept of life is difficult to grasp. I personally have never been able to make sense of life – why am I doing what I’m doing? Where exactly is life taking me? I have never had the guidance of religion to tell me the purpose of my life, and I don’t have any central beliefs that are a driving force for anything I’ve ever done. Last summer, though, something changed: I discovered philosophy. It started out as just a hobby when I first picked up Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul. I had previously read a similar book about Batman and psychology, which I liked, so I decided to give this one a try. I was immediately captivated. Later in the summer, my girlfriend got me a few philosophy books and my interest grew even more. I began to seek out other works with similar ideas and concepts. Reading these books taught me a lot about myself and about life, but two distinct ideas in particular really hit home for me. I believe that in order to live a happy and fulfilling life, I should try and live by these ideas: Friedrich Nietzche’s theory of eternal recurrence, which taught me to accept life’s good and bad, and Taoism’s concept of wu wei, which taught me to go with the flow.
In Nietzche’s book, Zarathustra, he discusses his theory of life as an eternal recurrence. He says life has no beginning or end, but it’s a repetition of the same life over and over. He maintains that, with all the sadness, wrongdoing, and suffering in life, one may feel despair if they were to live this life with the same pain and joy infinitely. But he says this idea is an attitude towards life that helps overcome the feeling of its meaninglessness. Whether or not life is truly an eternal recurrence doesn’t matter – it’s important to understand that life is filled with both happiness and sadness. When I read this, I gained an entirely new perspective. I now realize that few things can truly be upsetting in the scope of my life as a whole. Past actions or choices I’ve made, whether foolish or prudent, fortuitous or achieving, all are a necessity in my learning about myself and growing into the person I can and will ultimately become. Although there are many limitations in life, taking this attitude to heart allows me to face all the happiness and suffering of life, and eventually move forward knowingly and freely. It is important to remember that we need sadness to remind us how beautiful happiness can be. After learning this concept, I am so much more at ease whenever anything in my life goes wrong.
Upon discovering Taoism, I learned about the fascinating theory of wu wei. “Wu” can be translated as “not have or without.” “Wei” can be translated as “do, act, or effort.” The literal meaning of wu wei is "without action," "without effort," or "without control.” A better way to think of it is as a paradoxical “action without action" or "effortless doing.” One important part about wu wei is that one cannot actively pursue it. It is more of an examination of one’s behavior after one releases conscious control of their life and accepts who they are. Another major part of this concept is that a Taoist person performs all of their actions with a natural, unforced attitude by going along with the true nature of the world and letting things take their natural course. As I understand it, wu wei is about forging a state of being where our actions are effortlessly united with the flow of the natural world. Once I learned to live like this, I felt much more at peace, as it really helped me respond better to all situations in life. Living life as a “river” will not stop a person from being proactive, but it shows them that their activities should fit into the natural pattern of the universe and therefore we can be detached, disinterested, and not ego-driven. By adopting wu wei into my life, I learned not to force anything – when I am passive, I notice that things always work out the way they should.
The key to life is how we choose to act in relation to the natural processes already extant; the ability to let go of thoughts and actions that may hinder the flow of events of our natural life. By learning to eliminate unnecessary action and stress in my life and just simply doing what needs to be done, life feels effortless and pure. I understand now that life is all about balance and harmony and the way to find peace and happiness is to live on the basis that the world is working properly and there is no need for interference.
This new awareness that I discovered over the past summer wasn’t one of those “I was lost and now I have found something” type of situations. I’m also not trying to push any ideas on anybody. I do think, however, that other people can really benefit from these ideas as I have. Eternal recurrence and wu wei helped me find more understanding in my own life and I truly believe that both are good guides in how to find happiness and fulfillment.
Image: betterworldbooks.com
Mitch was born in a lab in wrong island New York. He is a writing for film and TV sophomore who enjoys the tender touch of a sea otter and long walks on the beach. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.