Is life in the air we breathe, is it in movement, is it in speech, is it in perception?
Photo by Julian Jagtenberg: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-grey-shirt-standing-on-elevated-surface-103123/
Life is in all these and more, because life is movement, it is in the air we breathe or we would not survive, it is expression, it is silence.
Life is stillness intertwined with motion, it is amity meshed with raucousness, life is synergy between equilibrium and disequilibrium.
According to the advanced English dictionary, life is:
- The course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living.
- The condition of living or the state of being alive.
- The period during which something is functional (as between birth and death).
- Animation and energy in expression.
Life is that which begins to grow, with its sustenance being provided by its environment through the source of that particular entity - direct provision, or from a source it did not directly originate from - indirect provision.
For example, direct provision can be a baby in a womb gaining vital nutrients from its mother.
Animals birth animals, and nature them till they are ready for independence; in some cases, animals care for themselves via sustenance from their immediate environment. That is life in circulation.
This is the accepted order of life: we are born, raised to be productive, and then we die; and this processes which have been the norm since time immemorial keep on continuing on the human level, the level of small organisms, and other minute levels that make up our world.
There can be no life without death, and no death without life.
What is life meant to be for humans:
• Theoretically life must be fair, but practically this is far from the case.
• Life must be lived in total freedom of harmony – people must be free to associate with whom ever.
• Lived with an assurance that no harm will come to any person, and that their bodily integrity is upheld by society.
• Lived without worrying about where to sleep, what to eat, what to wear or how to have an existence that is decent. One which will ensure life on earth is satisfactory, and lived apart from a day-to-day hand-to-mouth struggle.
Photo by Avery Nielsen-Webb: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-tree-near-sunflowers-2406449/
The points above are basic principles that make up life and are as it should be enshrined in laws of countries. However, the situation on the ground is far from ideal; it only takes a walk around a community to sense the cloud of uncertainty, depression and lack of direction within the public being caused by the plight of the people in society.
Namibia is a lowly populated nation, with a large geographical area, but, despite our small numbers most of the people in the land are living in poverty.
Though they are alive, they are not living because their existence lacks some of the factors that would make living a worthwhile journey, because the constancy of the stability present stimulates an individual to keep fighting and hoping for the better.
When an unexpected death occurs, it is normal to be angry because an individual has perished without having experienced what it is to truly live, by experiencing all that life can offer. This can be seen when parents or families are agonized by the loss of the young people in their families, regretting their passing-on without them fulfilling their respective callings.
The unfairness of life is seen here, and in many other situations, but in the end, death is coming for everyone, and the authority of who dies and when, is not in our hands, but in the hands of the Most-High.
Life should be peace, provision, love, gratitude, ubuntu, courage, fearlessness, oneness, and hope, but often life is fear, hunger, anger, hate, a lack of hope, enmity, greed, and undue censorship.
The systems that are in place, especially capitalism have been chipping away at the moral fabric of society as we are, and have been at a stage where gaps in wealth are ever widening. The have-nots keep sinking deeper into destitution; and farther and farther away from the power to influence decisions that affect them to a certain extent.
The bourgeoisie are becoming ever richer, and powerful, and separated from the situation of the proletariat on the ground.
For life to be fair there has to be a paradigm shift. We need to look within ourselves, into our past and the affairs of our ancestors, to see how they managed to live in unity before colonialism, or all the influences that infiltrated our once happy, united, fearless, courageous, unmoved, dignified, uncontaminated and vibrant societies.
We need not be consumed by materialism and conspicuous consumption, and instead be more concerned with the welfare of each member in society and how functioning in a “what is good for my brother, is good for me” mentality/attitude may finally produce ascension.
Collective thinking in relation to the welfare of society as whole has slowly drifted into the backs of most people’s minds, because the propagation of self is the all-important factor in the 21st century.
Humans have been duped (and are still being cheated) to seek happiness in gaining objects or possessions, rather than happiness in assimilation and fostering of strong support systems in family and society.
Systems that are not rooted in social status and power derived from the weight of one’s financial resources or physical assets.
The world is filled with greedy countries, corporations, and individuals, some whom would do the most heinous thing to reach their ends.
These are people who let nothing stand in their way and like it or not, they exist.
Some things require no proof to see, because common sense begets that these things exist which will prevent life on earth from ever coming close to what it could be, a blissful experience for all involved.
This problem can ultimately be pinned on the fall of the men in the garden that put us in a condition were our hearts are callous, in a state where we will most likely never work together for the good of all humanity, unless we find ourselves in a situation where our very existence is at threat of imminent annihilation.
Ideally, life must be an experience that every state must ensure their people experience in an assured, protected, balanced and accountable manner; unfortunately, this is not so.
Life must be freedom to go wherever, talk to whomever, and do what makes a person happy as long as it causes society no harm, unfortunately it is not so because of wars, lack of resources and other possible reasons.
Life must be feared, it must be respected, cherished, protected, and natured to its full capacity.