"Comment" in French means how. They say this instead of "what" when asking you to repeat something. Incidentally, "how" has become the focus of my life because many "whats" that I wanted were withheld. Even the patent pending idea of mine is about how technology is used.
Most of society is still obsessed with what. To be the biggest, richest, most powerful, gold medalist, most popular and so it goes. Some cultures desire something more. And I believe all of us want a change in how we live.
When I studied 20th Century French literature, existentialism was a major theme. The absurdity of established reasons for existing was rejected to live in the moment. Freedom from the past and future that seems non-existent if you focus on the instantaneous present was seen as the only way to avoid the senseless things that bog us down. Of course the meaning of order and responsibility are the issues people use to object to the philosophy. Some even judge the view to be immoral.
Yet the truth that we can't fix the past or ensure our future without living each moment of life at a time is more about HOW. It is no coincidence that the best selling novel associated with existentialism is "the stranger" by Albert Camus that sold 7 million copies in French and translated into 40 languages, was actually not intended to be existentialist. He said he only wanted to write about someone not willing to "play the game". The famous first lines of the novel "Today, mom died. Or was it yesterday. I don't know." speaks for itself.
For me, the sensibility of existentialism is to value and live out each moment to the full. I found it really hard because I was used to tending to all the things "on my plate". Sometimes, the extent I wanted to be prepared is much too large to be practical. That's when the popular quote "Life is what happens when you're making other plans" rings true.
Since so many things have become predictable and timetabled in our industrial age, it is natural to assume that once you have tended to the items waiting for us to complete, be it our job, our relationships and even our children, success is on the way. Fulfillment in completing assignments has become a good drug for satisfaction. It is true to a degree.
Except we are not just creatures of habit. A fire sometimes burns inside. We have something to say, want to reach out to people, create something different, want to tell a story with words, music, sights and sound.... It is what makes us human.
But true to the industrial age, we only look at the end result like a product. Not HOW we lived. But as each moment of our lives can be documented and shared instantly with whoever is interested, HOW is more important than WHAT.
I found it hard to focus on the moment because few things in life reach fruition in an instant. We often don't know why we are doing something driven by our passion. The journey is the point. And the product (if any) is just a way to celebrate the life that brought us there.
So when faced with the turning point of the information age, I can see how being grateful for each moment is the essence of reality. If the past and the future depend only on what we do at any instant, HOW we live is so vital. For it is in being grateful, thankful that I am in tune with myself. Once that happens you can decide how you want to live, with or without a concept of God. Either way, you are the only one qualified to decide how we treat each other.
If all of life is about how we relate to our world instead of making some product... well maybe our products will be love, kindness, healing, growth without sacrificing our world for something we use then discard.
These songs celebrate being grateful and thankful for life. Whether you believe in God or not but we can all agree that each moment is a gift we have.
Yet the truth that we can't fix the past or ensure our future without living each moment of life at a time is more about HOW. It is no coincidence that the best selling novel associated with existentialism is "the stranger" by Albert Camus that sold 7 million copies in French and translated into 40 languages, was actually not intended to be existentialist. He said he only wanted to write about someone not willing to "play the game". The famous first lines of the novel "Today, mom died. Or was it yesterday. I don't know." speaks for itself.
For me, the sensibility of existentialism is to value and live out each moment to the full. I found it really hard because I was used to tending to all the things "on my plate". Sometimes, the extent I wanted to be prepared is much too large to be practical. That's when the popular quote "Life is what happens when you're making other plans" rings true.
Since so many things have become predictable and timetabled in our industrial age, it is natural to assume that once you have tended to the items waiting for us to complete, be it our job, our relationships and even our children, success is on the way. Fulfillment in completing assignments has become a good drug for satisfaction. It is true to a degree.
Except we are not just creatures of habit. A fire sometimes burns inside. We have something to say, want to reach out to people, create something different, want to tell a story with words, music, sights and sound.... It is what makes us human.
But true to the industrial age, we only look at the end result like a product. Not HOW we lived. But as each moment of our lives can be documented and shared instantly with whoever is interested, HOW is more important than WHAT.
I found it hard to focus on the moment because few things in life reach fruition in an instant. We often don't know why we are doing something driven by our passion. The journey is the point. And the product (if any) is just a way to celebrate the life that brought us there.
So when faced with the turning point of the information age, I can see how being grateful for each moment is the essence of reality. If the past and the future depend only on what we do at any instant, HOW we live is so vital. For it is in being grateful, thankful that I am in tune with myself. Once that happens you can decide how you want to live, with or without a concept of God. Either way, you are the only one qualified to decide how we treat each other.
If all of life is about how we relate to our world instead of making some product... well maybe our products will be love, kindness, healing, growth without sacrificing our world for something we use then discard.
These songs celebrate being grateful and thankful for life. Whether you believe in God or not but we can all agree that each moment is a gift we have.
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