You are stardust on a space ride. Here is some stuff to do while you’re here.
To my fellow stardust-turned-travelers on this spherical-shaped space rock hurling through the galaxy, spinning at 1,000 miles per hour, rotating at 67,000 mph around a huge mass of fire and gas doomed to expire. Such is this place we have found ourselves: bright and beautiful, vast and empty. Welcome. Let me set expectations early. There are technically no rules, but let me offer two as a guiding principle:
- Remember you only get one entry.
- Be Kind to yourself and others while here.
You’re not getting out of this space ride theme park alive. That said, there are plenty of attractions for your enjoyment in the meantime:
Suffering
Often underrated, the possibilities for suffering here are endless. Depending on who you are, you could suffer your entire life! Because suffering is quite a popular ride, we have a lot of opinions to consider regarding its utility. Several religious groups say that life as we known it is nothing but an endless circle of suffering, known as Samsara to Buddhists and Hindus, that we can only escape once we become enlightened and understand the ultimate nature of reality (e.g. all things are connected) vs the conventional nature of reality we can sense, which is simply an illusion. Other religious groups like Muslims say suffering is useful, and it is not to be escaped but understood and appreciated as a tool for learning.
Of course, there are plenty of non-secular perspectives on the matter. A previous rider observed that all religions that believe in a higher power are fundamentally flawed because there is only this observable realm and nothing else. That said, suffering is still ultimately good because you cannot grow without it. He elaborated, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.”
In the most rudimentary sense, suffering does not feel good. It can be generally understood as anything from mild discomfort to paralyzing trauma and pain, whether emotional, physical or mental. But while the suffering is inevitable, and regardless of your view of its purpose or lack thereof, you must not limit yourself to this ride. But to the extent you are on it, make sure you improve from it. Use what it teaches you to your advantage to become stronger and wiser. When you are on the ride of suffering, you can choose to be a passive participant and hope the ride ends quickly. Or, you can embrace the suffering and use it as a tool to chisel away the old parts of you now deemed unnecessary. You can create yourself. You can grow.
Striving
Some people suggest skipping this ride entirely. They say you should avoid working too hard or pushing yourself too much. They say we have come to create a culture on this ride where we give undue admiration to those who tell us about their immense efforts to strive. These riders are tragically misguided and are missing out on wonderful opportunities. If you do not want to push the boundaries of your one opportunity in this space ride, then feel free to sit in the middle and hope we do not go too fast. But, if you want to feel alive, I suggest a different course. Precedent tells us that those who have benefited most from the ride did not avoid effort. Let riders concerned about working too hard enjoy their moments of ease and middle seats and the warm embrace of safety and stability, if that is what they seek. Otherwise, do not pay them attention — and strive. We should not wish for an easy ride. We should strive to be great riders. Otherwise, what’s the point? Why not forget the ride entirely and save yourself time by watching from the sidelines while enjoying some cotton candy. Strive hard for what you want. Don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you can’t, or you don’t deserve it, or that your striving is futile. Those riders are cowardice trying to disguise themselves as wisdom.
Suffocating
Suffocating might sound like suffering to some of you riders, but it is quite different. You can never grow from suffocation, and it often feels enjoyable, where as the opposite is true for suffering. Suffocating often looks and feels like a warm blanket and binge watching television and ordering from food delivery apps. Why suffer when you can suffocate? The thing about suffocating is that you do not always realize it is happening. It often seems even enjoyable, which is what makes it so dangerous. Each rider is only entitled to one entry on this space ride. If you want to waste it covered in a warm blanket on the couch, be my guest — but it would be an awful shame.
Loving
This ride has some variations. Perhaps it’s one of the most dangerous. Traditionally, some riders have posited that there are seven different variations of this ride: Eros (sexual, passionate love); Philia (friendship); Storge (familial love, typically asymmetrical as in parents’ love for children); Agape (universal love; love for this ride and the other riders); Ludus (playful, uncommitted); Pragma (reasoned love, practical — not passionate); and finally Philautia (self love, which can be good or bad, depending if the self love is more rooted in ego or self-esteem).
No matter the simplicity or complexity we decide to attribute to love, there is no denying its impact on every ride and rider. Perhaps it is more influential than any other ride on this space rock. It has fascinated the minds of riders since the beginning, from Samson and Delilah and the Trojan War to Romeo and Juliet. There are probably as many approaches to love as there are variations. Some riders might advise you to tread carefully, while others will encourage you to dive in head first without concern for consequences.
While the choice belongs to you alone, I suggest you love as if you were hurling through space on a giant rock at thousands of miles per hour, all the while remembering you will not get a second chance here.
Box
One of the most popular rides is a box. Some riders do their best to choose only this ride. They transport themselves in boxes to spend most of the daylight in another box, only to return to their initial box before starting the process all over again the next day. Most of these riders will end up in boxes once their ride is over, having never done much of anything other than see the inside of a box. Sometimes, they realize midway though that something is wrong, and they believe the solution is to buy an expensive box where the lid is missing, which they refer to as a “convertible,” and use that to transport themselves between their other boxes. These riders miss the point.
Natural Phenomena
This ride offers exquisite beauty, having served to inspire riders’ imaginations about what might wait for them in eternity since the very beginning. The way the sun finds its way through the forest, providing bursting streams of warm light to guide any seeker, the ocean’s waves powerful enough to destroy anything in its court but also gentle enough to kiss the shore thousands of times a day. Do your best to take some time to experience this ride. It’s a must see.
Coping: A rider’s best practice
It is best to equip you with a tool before encouraging you to go further. To enjoy all the rides this space rock has to offer, you should seriously consider equipping yourself with a coping mechanism.
You should know, without a doubt, there is a certainty you will experience suffering. There is no possible way to avoid it. Maybe you can take some comfort in knowing that this particular ride is inevitable, no matter what you do or choose. It is as inevitable as your eventual exit from this space rock. The benefit of this is that you can expect it. It does not need to come as some shock to you. Face it with grace and dignity. Be as ready as possible for it.
You will unexpectedly lose loved ones. You will lose your balance and fall off. You might get trapped in a box and become unsure how to escape. Your entry ticket may expire much sooner than you expect.
But understand through all the chaos and the inevitable suffering that you are loved; you are worthy, and this too shall pass, because absolutely nothing is permanent on this space ride.
Happy riding.
