$ cat posts/satisfaction-2013.md

Satisfaction

869 words 5 min read

es Leer este post en español →

We live in times when people do not know how to appreciate nature, what they have, the wonder of life. This morning someone in my Twitter timeline wrote the following:

Yesterday I went to a tourist spot where people were frantically taking pictures of themselves for “face”—contemplating the natural beauty was an afterthought – @juque https://twitter.com/juque/status/399876149959876608

We live in times of appearances, where what seems to matter is looking successful. It doesn’t matter if you are standing before a wonder of nature, if you are in front of Torres del Paine, or Niagara Falls. What people care about is proving to their peers, to their “friends,” that they were there, posting it on their Facebook wall. Being shaken by the sheer scale of nature no longer matters. Five minutes of photos and that’s it, on to the next thing.

I don’t know if I pursue success. I am not clear on what it means. Winning at something? Earning some medal? I am old school. I give more weight to the satisfaction I get from doing something, sharing with someone, living a moment.

There is an old adage about planting a tree, having a child and writing a book as signs of achievement, symbols of total fulfillment as a person, as a man. In this success-centered age that gets read as success in life, the ultimate accomplishment. Surely nobody stops to consider the message that carrying out those three acts actually conveys.

It is about transcendence. We want, we need to transcend. Even those who chase success, or fame, are seeking transcendence, in a twisted, meaningless way. Others stop seeking transcendence because they settle for the hollow imitation that religion offers them, or belief in some god. All of them have lost the sense of transcending. That is why in the end they feel no satisfaction, or they look for it in things that don’t matter, or that simply don’t exist.

Today I turn forty-seven, and I feel satisfied with my life. Some will see it as successful, others will find it dull, or nerdy. I don’t measure it in either of those ways, but I do feel it has been an interesting, full, satisfying life. Being with the people who love me, feeling that they love me, and feeling the affection of so many other people beyond my inner circle means I am having a full life, that I am fulfilling that mandate of the universe: to transcend.

“I want to put a ding in the universe – Steve Jobs

I have a long way to go, there is still so much left to do. I hope to have the strength and the health to keep going. In the last few weeks I have done many things, from taking part in conferences to publishing a book! And now it is my birthday, and all I can feel is great satisfaction with my life, with my family, with my friends and acquaintances.

I invite you to enjoy life’s satisfactions, to value what you have, to worry less about success, or about living a saintly life. To live! As Nietzsche says, “The maturity of man—that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play.” Let’s recover that seriousness of the child. Let’s give ourselves over to play. As Cioran said: “if we are a mere accident, why take it all so seriously?”

The next time you are somewhere beautiful, enjoy it. Before taking the photo to post on “face,” hold your partner close, tell them you love them. Kiss your children, and if you don’t have any, have them! What you are really looking for is not happiness, not success, it is transcendence. When you have reached it, leaving your seed in the hearts of your descendants, when you have touched the soul of your fellow human beings, you will find satisfaction.

As usual on my birthdays, I am leaving you a gift. This time it is a beautiful song by Rush, with lyrics by Neil Peart, “Resist”.

I can learn to resist Anything but temptation
I can learn to coexist
With anything but pain

I can learn to compromise Anything but my desires
I can learn to get along
With all the things I can't explain

I can learn to resist Anything but frustration
I can learn to persist
With anything but aiming low

I can learn to close my eyes To anything but injustice
I can learn to get along
With all the things I don't know

You can surrender Without a prayer
But never really pray
Pray without surrender

You can fight Without ever winning
But never ever win
Without a fight

I can learn to resist Anything but temptation
I can learn to coexist
With anything but pain

I can learn to compromise Anything but my desires
I can learn to get along
With all the things I can't explain

And as a bonus track, Earthshine

  • If you want to understand why Rush, read the last chapter of my book (in Spanish) ;-)

Comments

comments powered by Disqus