Up to date or not up to date...

I was very lucky to get internet at a very early stage. When I first got internet nothing could be found there, so everything we wanted to find online we had to post ourselves. There were no pictures and no sound. Well, no sound apart from a casual “pling” now and again.

Internet evolved. More and more contents could be found. Commercial became a loyal companion to every site I visited, and before long advertisements for dating sites were just as common on the margins (on either side) of my screen as makeup, clothes and diets.

For a long time I was reluctant, but early February 2011 I established my Facebook profile, and soon I had Facebook friends, updates, likes and shares. I got involved in the discussions about what others had posted and why and how and when.

You pay more attention to what appears in the margin on Facebook. Don’t know why, but I do. To the left you got the apps and the invites, to the right you have the consumers’ advertisements about everything and nothing which will make your life improve; and there is one thing in particular I have noted as a curiosity.

Steadily a dating site shows up where an amazing amount of single people are searching for a partner. Don’t misunderstand me, I have no prejudice or negative thoughts on people who see this as a solution worth trying. Actually I think it is a good way to start looking for a significant partner.

BUT. There is one thing which astonishes me; one of the dating sites has used the picture of the same man this entire time to advertise for their site.

I told a friend about this, and late the same evening she gave me a call. Very amused she told me that she established her Facebook profile 6 years ago, and now (looking at the picture shown and thinking about it) she was pretty sure the same picture had been on that dating site the entire time! For 6 years!!!!!!!!

If he still hasn’t «found» anyone, it must mean he is a hopeless romantic who still hoping to find the perfect partner… or maybe he just isn’t very perspicacious.

Someone have mercy on that guy! I strongly consider sending him a postcard saying: “You probably do best on your own». I mean; if you can’t find it online, you probably have to find it elsewhere… and then post it, on facebook to share, perhaps?

Life.....

Life. So fascinating in itself. There is no need to be scientific about it; life concerns us all, simply because we live it. We don’t usually start analyzing the smallest form of life known to man, or when we can start counting the days we’ve lived. We are just alive living! And unless we fall into the trap of exploring the mystery behind how it is possible we can lead a full life, making choices and do purposeful actions, life is pretty neat. It is so basic, so profound that man does almost anything to stay alive, even when we face the end.

We hear about those who find peace of mind and face the end of their lives with await. They have come to terms with what is about to happen: Life, the one we know of, is about to end. Others have been in life threatening situations, reporting how the life they’ve lived (so far) passed them by.

To most, of those I have heard of, an experience like that changes their values, beliefs and how they conduct their lifestyle. They got a second chance. Usually, when we talk about second chances, it means to do better according to the insight we gained from the past experience. I have never heard about people referring to a second chance as a new direction on their own behalf: someone else/others are involved.

The nature of life has always been food for thoughts. To get answers to the questions about life and death, and try to make sense of the puzzling phenomena of life, is part of what we do when trying to find our inner self.

Great thinkers like philosophers, authors, scientists and just the average man on the street have all pondered about life. Not just life itself, but what was before and what will be next? We look for answers. Most find it in religion, some work hard to have no religion, a few make a point of abusing religion. Same thing goes for politics and both can be strengthened by lifestyle.

Literature, on every level and every genre, is full of wisdom and quotes on how to lead a meaningful life. And that is what we all struggle to do; we go through life on a quest to find a purpose… and live it.

We have this urge to make a difference, to live life to the full and leave behind a legacy of some kind.

“Notice that our ordinary, everyday concept of life does not settle what the true nature of life is. Thus, we are not concerned here with careful delineation of the paradigms and stereotypes that we commonly associate with life. We want to know what life is, not what people think life is. Glass does not fall under the everyday concept of a liquid, even though chemists tell us that glass really is a liquid. Likewise, we should not object if the true nature of life happens to have some initially counterintuitive consequences”.

The Nature of Life by Mark A. Bedau (http://people.reed.edu/~mab/papers/life.OXFORD.html)

I read and understand what is written in the article quoted here, but since I don’t believe we can fully comprehend what life is (in my mind it just becomes so great, so overwhelming, it just turns out to be impossible to take in and fathom), my thoughts on what life is are to me far more important. Dreams, thoughts, plans, expectations, experiences, emotions, actions, circumstances, values, believes, the joys and sadness, the anger and grief… everything which in one way or another makes an impact on me as a person.

To me life is motion… with attached emotions. That is what life is, and what makes life so precious.... to me.