“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” - Oscar Wilde
If you ask almost anyone how to genuinely live life, rather than float through it, they would say to do what makes you happy. While this idea is spectacular in theory, actually executing that plan comes with endless obstacles. For one, you have to decide what “happiness” entails for you. Human nature is malleable and always changing, meaning what once filled you with glee could bring you great remorse the next day. Thus, chasing after an endless cycle of short-term pleasures is not sustainable. On another note, if you really want to “live life to the fullest” then you must also go through extreme terror, and sorrow, and helplessness, and anxiety. To know all that life has to offer, you can’t expect a perfect and complaisant existence. Though it’s not a euphoric experience, living life through all its extremes appeals to some people. What is not considered in this ideology is that sometimes it is best to just be. To completely write off simply existing is to denounce nature in its purest form. Existing can be letting life and the interactions you are presented with guide you. If you take the chance to only exist, you stop yourself from worrying about the value of each experience in your made-up scale. Your interactions can be unique and true to you, rather than previously dictated. Where living is running after life, existing is strolling along with life through the breeze. People can be so desperate to search after what they have heard of that they don’t allow the formation of their own genuine future. As nice as I’ve made existing sound, it also has its challenges. Existing can sometimes leave you nowhere, and though that is okay to some, if you had a specific goal that existing didn’t lead you to, you’d end up regretting not living. For some people, purely existing is doing all of the things that living is, but out of happenstance rather than planning. For other people, existing creates no result or movement in life at all. So, in combining these ideas, the best way to go through life is to both live and exist. If one day you chase after an idea or a dream to fulfill, the next it might be best to see what is returned to you after expelling all of your energy. In some ways, living and existing are the same. If you wait for the perfect encounter while living because you’ve planned it all out in your head, while existing, that encounter could have already happened. To live is to exist and to exist is to live. That being said, the answer to the idea of how to truly live is to both take initiative and lean back. To fight and to stay where you are. To scream and to whisper. To cry and to smile. To wake up early and to sleep in. There is no perfect way to go through life, but to both live and exist, despite Oscar Wilde’s advice, is a safe bet.
I think this piece is very important for people to read. That living and and existing are very different thinks and it can be hard to differentiate, but we should train ourselves to live and not just exist. IU loved your piece great job! -Nya Clemons
ReplyDeleteThis was a very thought-provoking piece. It really went into the differences between living and existing and how you can't have one without the other. It makes one reflect on the past and reflect on the way one used to view life. Great job! -Julissa Zavala
ReplyDeleteI love your take on this concept Paige! It was really interesting to see how you analyzed Oscar Wilde's quote and applied it to all of our lives. I also agree with you, to experience the fullness of life we need both the positives and the negatives. - Kira S.
ReplyDeleteI really like this piece, but for a reason that perhaps others may not have considered - I like how you actually address counterarguments, unlike many other writers who focus solely on the positives of their claims. Here, you understand that with every action comes and equal and opposite reaction; that is to say, everything has its own set of pros and cons. I also like the overall claim of just "living and existing" being the best way to experience life - it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Really contemplative piece! :D - Ethan L.
ReplyDeleteThe quote introduction really helped to tie it all together! It's motivating without pushing someone in a clear direction, simply telling someone to find the balance between living and existing, and I feel like that's the most personally fulfilling form of motivation, great job! -Giana N.
ReplyDeletei agree with your sentiments about the best way to live our life. I thought it was really interesting how you went about describing both ways to live life and I agree that feeling a wide range of emotions is important to living life. good job! -Ashley Tan
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