Sometimes I get the impression that I have some minor form of cyclothymia (just the impression, I don't believe I do!). And now, it is one of those periods that I have a somewhat depressed mood. Usually when I do not have so much energy to entertain myself with the usual tasks of my life, I think about myself, life, loneliness, and so on.
One of the main subjects that I think about is the ends I am seeking in my life. I know some people who have very clear ends: money, fame, and anything else that pertains to them. The problem with me is that I do not feel satisfied with money, celebrity, or being respected.
Sometimes, I ask myself, "If I do not like to be respected by other people, do I like to be humiliated by them?" Surely, this is not what I am seeking. I mean I do not like to be humiliated, but on the other hand, other people's respect (or fear) towards me does not satisfy me. It's not an important end for me. When I think too much, it becomes clear that what I do really want is my love towards other people and their love towards me. But, doesn't this way of thinking have a flaw? Maybe it does. There are people whom I cannot love easily - people who are jealous, people who are intruding, people who do not have the capacity to love other people. This is the main challenge of my life: how to love other people and how to consider all of them worthy of loving.
There might be an answer for your question in Dostoyevski's novel "The Idiot" .I read it a long time ago and at the time I felt like Jesus Christ.I could understand and forgive anybody. I also believe that Socrates's is right in thinking that the root of all vices and evil is in ignorance.
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