Search for Shangri-LA

Why am I starting this blog? It's a Monday afternoon and I'm a 21 year old with nothing better to do. It's the middle of summer but this year I haven't made much of a headway in exciting or progressive plans. Headed towards my 3rd year and final year at University come September, there are big life decisions lying ahead of me. This can be a scary time for many people and as I watch my peers scramble, looking for the next logical step, I have to be honest and see that I find myself in a similar position. However, I would be lying if the uncertainty wasn't as exciting as it can be daunting; at this stage anything feels possible and the world is my oyster. This is the case for billions of people across the planet, granted we don't all have the starting position, yet many seem to get lost and can reach their middle ages before realising they have wasted their time, pursuing things they are not passionate about, spending time and energy on the wrong people. Waking up to this realisation at 40, and having to drag myself to work at a job I hate at 7am every Monday may be my biggest fear. Time is on my side but life is short and I don't want to wait another decade or so before finding my calling. I look around and see that the frustration born out of indecision and uncertainty can lead to nihilism and pessimism. This process of thought seems to operate alongside the philosophy of existentialism, which I discovered through podcasts like The JRE and listening to people like Duncan Trussell on the subject. It seems that the knowledge that our existence has come to be through the unbiased nature and luck of the universe, we have no innate meaning or calling, and it falls upon all of us as indiviuals to give our own lives meaning and reason. Something that can seem contradictory to this is the importance of others in our life, the need to embrace the tribal elements of our species which bring us together to use the qualities shared among us to create a better world for everyone. If we cannot learn from each other, who can we learn from? As an atheist I see all religions, as well as cults and the such like; as proof of the need for all people to come together to try and establish the paramaters for Utopia. A perfect world seems unlikely (and probably quite dull), but if there is anything we are as a the human species should be working towards ultimately, surely this is it? With so many variables at play, it seems clear that the more people working together, the better our progress will be, for the benefit of us all. In many ways I feel that the individualised nature of modern society is what holds us back in many ways, our more selfish attributes are romanticized and celebrated by our culture as we place CEO's, billionaires and the caricatures of capitalism on a pedestal. Our existence is finite, a blip in the history of the universe, but don't we all live for long enough to do something other than try to accumulate as much material wealth or pieces of paper as possible. This has become a simple and easy way for people to define themselves, and to judge their success by comparing their own numbers to other people's. It is one thing to reject these principles, as many people do, but by doing this alone what is achieved? Nothing. Unless something meaningful can replace it. There is no single answer to life that we will discover by coming up with the right equation and therefore it seems that we are unlikely to come up with one thing for us to do that will completely define and satisfy us. The logical solution to this seems to me to be that we must try and to learn as much as possible, from as broad a spectrum of people and sources that we can find. I don't think we should expect to wake up one day and the switch has been flicked, but the desire for constant growth is what will stop us from stagnating. It is futile to try and define ourselves as many do, by their job title or one of our particular passions; because we all change over time, it is within our power to ensure this change is positive by choosing the right stimulus. This is why I listen to podcasts, read books, read blogs, listen to music, talk to a variety of people and challenge the way I think. Furthermore, I believe this is why I have sat down to start this blog today. To offer my opinions, outlooks and ideas is to become part of this system. The internet is often blamed for a decline in human interaction but the reality is that it has connected us like never before. This first post has been a ramble and if you have made it this far, that's pretty cool, I hope I have sparked some new ideas in you and a desire for you to do the same for others.