Why?

By: Sebastián Mejía

Today I woke up early. I drank a cup of coffee with a slice of toast while I read the paper. Why? I got into a cab I’d called since the day before and headed downtown. Why? When I got to my destination, I reorganized a stack of papers I had on my desk that were prepared to be evaluated. Why? The mahogany leaves of a nearby tree were caressed by the wind. Some torn from their roots, scattered on the pavement. I wonder why... Why do we get up in the morning to do so many things that could be considered banal, strange, absurd? Why do I put a rectangular shaped combination of yeast, flour and water in a geared machine to heat it? Then it spits out. It’s ready, as I am to do my morning tasks, but what about those? What’s so important about them? And why do we do all this in a place like this one, a rotating sphere that revolves around a gigantic bulb of light. A sphere that contains animals, trees, mahogany leaves, and a stark rough pavement.

Human life is plunged into action by a variety of unique characteristics that distinguish humans from other species and drive them to progress, innovation, and success. These characteristics stem from peoples’ rationality and strong capacity for emotions such as fear, love and hate; these converge in people’s perception of life, one that differs between each person. However, all of these perceptions connect in three aspects, we all long for love, we all wish we had more time, and we all fear death.

These axioms become a drive for people’s lives, as they lead them to better themselves and to either follow the norm or break it while selecting their paths in life. Our perception of these ideas is what leads us to determine who we want to be and what we do to achieve it, which culminates in a goal and a life’s purpose, which, even though we are all affected by the same axioms, is ultimately determined by each person.

Love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection, which may be towards another person, a place, an animal, an object, or an idea. Love, along with hate, its antithesis is the emotion that drives people to connect with others, which is what has given humans the epithet of social beings. There are many different types of love, all with their different specificities. There is the love that one has towards their family, which is the first one that most people encounter, and it shapes who you are as a person. There is romantic love, which leads people to do the unimaginable, and there is also the love that one has for friends, which assimilates more with the

family type of love. There is also the love one has for doing things, which ultimately becomes a passion.

People’s necessity to find love makes them struggle through a constant search for it. If a child finds that succeeding in school earns them esteem and appreciation, which could be a form of love, they will continue working hard in order to gain this instead of staying at home or not developing any interest in learning. This can be seen in many cases as one grows older as well. If a person invites their romantic interest on a special date and they both like this, they are likely to continue doing it. The stronger this connection is, the more people can learn about the other and themselves, however, as one loves and is loved, it should never be a selfish endeavor utilized for one's benefit, it should be with genuine heart and soul, and an interest in the other person, which is achieved by that empathy that makes people so special. As Eastern philosopher Lao Tzu once said: “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” Apart from this, love gives people the feeling that they are understood, that they belong, and that they have found a purpose in life, which makes it essential to people’s development of an identity and their search for happiness

The search for love, however, is not the only drive that pushes humans forward. If the shadow of death did not chase people wherever they went, they probably wouldn't do half of the things they do. Death gives people an expiration date, it reminds them that one day, their time on Earth will come to an end, for which most people determine that they must live their lives to the fullest, so that they do not have any regrets once they die. In this way, the fear of death drives people to spend their time wisely. This means that death and time are connected, motivating people to get up each day and find meaning in what they do, because if they didn’t do this, they would just waste their lives completely and regret all they didn’t do. This awareness of death is what culminated in the creation of time, which is an idea fully crafted by man with the sole objective of confronting death in a battle that will inevitably be lost. However, thanks to the seconds, minutes, and hours, people are able to keep track of time and they get to know how much they may have left, along with how to organize their lives.

Today I made my way home by taking small footsteps. I decided not to take a cab or a bus. The leaves of fall descended towards me, as a thought arose in my mind only to disappear moments after. I kept walking as if nothing had happened until I realized a second had gone by, and that I had taken a few steps toward my destination. I would never have that same thought again, and I would never be where I am now, but I will keep walking, I’ll keep plunging forward with the things that give life meaning, and I’ll love as I would like to be loved, keeping track of an inevitable destiny, to make the best of my time here.

That is why.