Longevity and hope
Some of us are unworried about their end of life, whether or not longevity is good, or is this a delusion? I believe in the Creation, a Creator, and that we are his children. By the way, this doesn’t not mean literally. It may well be that the Creation is the result from the interaction of a complex set of physical laws, of unfathomable complexity, that have led to equally complex astronomical objects, stars rich in chemistry, and life. Consequently, I claim to feel reconciled with where my life stands in relation to: other beings, my children, my ancestors, the earth, the stars, what I have done or not done, or should have done.
The next ten years
So, what does this mean for the next decade?
At my age a decade is a long time, just looking back at the last ten years, 2014-2024, the changes, the wars, the discoveries, shows this without doubt: this feeling of disappearing perspective! In the scope of things, the planet, history, let alone this galaxy and others, it is very little, a minuscule droplet of time.
Yet shouldn’t I be a little afraid of the next decade? Will I be able, to maintain the day to day pleasures, health, love, coffee? Will I still hear the sound of music, admire the beauty of dawn, the magic of clouds? Or will I vegetate in stupor, step by step sinking into morph nothingness? Will I still see the light?
What comes after?
Am I worried about what comes next, once this body disintegrate? Should I be? Do I claim to be reconciled with this as well? Yes, in a way. Dust return to dust, particles to other elements. Nothing is lost in the universe, as I see it. The great religions all have parables to explain this. We survive in others’ memories, aspirations, hopes. We may or not be role models for our children, or the opposite: does it matter?
We may be reincarnated, reappear on a different world, survive as some sort of holograms, who knows? If there is an Eternity, it is in the Universe, that vast lab of reconstruction and destruction, where big holes swallow small and large stars, and of course the worlds that gravitate around them.
Ha! Gravitation, shall we ever know if Einstein was right in claiming that God does not throw dices? Did anyone ever understood the strange hieroglyphs of Mister Feynman? Do we in the end return to a small assembly of photons? I am not good enough physicist to judge of these things, albeit I still find them fascinating. In a poetic sort of way.
So longevity is for me up to a point desirable, eternity is elsewhere. All these bits and pieces will be reused, recycled, turned again into some form, may be of life, may be intelligent, what do I know?
Conclusion on longevity
Those digressions are as many others pointless, unless they help us to clarify our conduct. It is important to enjoy life, even when in pain, even suffering the small miseries of older age. It is important to read what others have written on this subject, how people have coped, did better that coped, remained creative, pushing their reflections further, discovered new avenues. Learning is a lifelong project.
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