LIFE AS A FIREFLY

Life. What is life? Is life about earning endless money. Or is life about a ‘Race’ which never ends?Or is life about jumping into the sea in which it is your choice, in which ‘YOU’ have to decide the quantity of salt. What is life?

Since my early childhood, there have been countless people, who tried being motivational speakers and say things like “You gotta do what you want to. Only then you’ll be successful.” “I’ll always be there for you. You just don’t need to worry.” “Life isn’t about love it is about ‘SUCCESS’. ” But every time, when I needed those people, they would disappear like a spark of light in the dark. People still say things to me like “Be Happy” or “Don’t be sad.” But in the end they are the ones who hurt me. Since the very first day I opened my eyes, I grew up, I have always been confused about the answer of the very same question “What is Life?” because of those people, some of them taught me that life isn’t about love and some of them says that life is all about love and enjoyment, both parties had their own reason and arguments but I didn’t know that whom’s party should I join?

As I grew up I used to think that why your life has to be about ‘SOMETHING’? Why can’t it be like a firefly, travelling from leaf to leaf, tree to tree, forest to forest, town to town, city to city, country to country, and......dream to dream. It gets hurt by the thorns, the (too much) noise and the killer bees but the beautiful pace of LIFE and the ataraxy of that very moment would heal all the wounds, either external or internal. But......As I shared my views with people, with the same people who always said things like “Be Happy”, they laughed at me and asked me to get my head out of the clouds and face the real world. What is so bad about the real world? I have been through things, hard things but I won’t blame the world. I have been through sexual harassment, social criticism, losing important people in life, poverty, got bullied all my life but still.....I don’t believe on the phrase. The world isn’t bad, we have just assumed it as a brutal place, and from the very first day, we step out of our house on our own, the phrase that we have heard all our lives, the world is bad keeps on scaring us. You can’t blame a whole tribe, a whole religion, a whole country because of one bad person or one flaw.

Many people reading this might be against me or my thinking and they would have there own reasons like “You should be ambitious.” Unfortunately, I disagree. Everyone should have dreams but I think that those people who have ‘money’ as their ambition, are ruining their lives. Having an ambition isn’t a bad thing at all, but when you have it just for money, it gets complicated. Success isn’t about getting money, it is about doing something that you love to do. Instead of running after things that fades away, run after you IKIGAI!

Life is the strange noun which can be used as an adjective and a verb. You get confused in where to use which form. We are confused, we are fed up of it but it(life) is just a job that we have to do. And if it so important then why not turn it to something which we actually love. Why not be the fireflies? Why not be the birds who sing without caring about who is listening and who’s not, without caring about the fact if they are sounding good or not, they are just doing what is making them at that very moment happy. Alot of people can say “Be Happy” but only few of them fulfill the promise in it.

Joseph Campbell said “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” If you are the answer then why be worried about the question? There’s this sentence in Urdu language “So jaa re, so jaa re, sapnon mai kho ja re!” It means that just sleep for a while and get lost in your dreams. Sit alone at a peaceful place and feel the serene calmness in that moment, instead of crying over people who left, find your tranquility in solitude. There is a word in German "Waldeinsamkeit" it means solitude in woods or a connectedness to nature. Just imagining the feeling gives so much ataraxia.

What is life? So now instead of finding the answer, find the meaning and bring it to life. FIND IT WITHIN YOURSELF. Stop being the isolated snail who is just too afraid to explore the answers and live it's dreams and who hides in the shell which has no guarantee, either it will protect the snail or not but it is just in his mind, a delusion. Be the firefly and spread some light!