With the death of David Bowie and Alan Rickman this past week, it makes one think about one's own mortality and the meaning of life. Granted these are celebrities and I have never known them but I feel like I have had a glimpse in to their human spirit through their works - and thereby felt something they have experienced on some level even though we have never met and are different people. That is the magic of the arts - we can share experiences and emotions and feel something very deeply similar to what the creator of the work wanted to have felt or communicate.
We humans might never truly know what life is about - though some like to tell you they know - but we can express the wondrous experience of life that we are having right now and share it with each other. That I think is getting us closer to a purpose or meaning - if there is one. Through words, pictures, moving pictures, colors, sounds and music - we can inspire each other to be our best selves and be heroes to each other. There was a story that a man prayed to a god that he wanted to help people without ever knowing about it. This god felt that it was such a good and selfless prayer that he gave that ability to everyone. I think that expresses that we are heroes . . . at least today :) So remember to do something heroic before the end of the day!
And a Happy New Year! Though it's a bit late :)
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David Bowie - Heroes:
https://youtu.be/Tgcc5V9Hu3g
Heroes are just those who do what's right for others are they not? Is that the meaning of life? Perhaps, spreading love is a purpose, or maybe we just want to have a goal?
"If I claim to be a wise man/It surely means that I don't know."~Kerry Livgren, "Carry On" Kansas
But arts to help us connect with emotions and with each other. Not so hard to do one random act of kindness. You never know how much it means to another, so a good challenge for today.
Well said. You captured that truth that I feel we are all aware of in these moments.
In four days we will embark upon the day that my grandmother died. She was very young and taken by cancer. It seems that these iconic figures are reminding us all of either, as you said our mortality or someone we have lost.
I personally have little emotion on the subject. Something deep within me stirs and adds sadness to an ever growing well of pain and yet somehow all this time it has lived under the surface of my heart, separate from everything else that I experience. I suppose I do not like to think about it.
What I liked about your words here were the way that I was forced to face it and how guided by your own thoughts there was more peace and less pain.
Thank you for sharing. I hope all is well with you.