On Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs recognized at a young age that happiness is a byproduct of living life like everyday was his last. Reject the status quo. Be rebellious and innovative. Do what has never been done before. This passionate, unrestrained attitude is sometimes desired but most times despised. People praise innovators who become successful, but look down upon those who didn't quite make it. Don't let them stop you. You only have a short amount of time in this world, so make the best of it and keep pushing.

My best friends have prodded each other with the phrase "you only live once." Joking about death made me realize a few things. The fear of death seems to be the ultimate unknown. It's like waiting for a train that never comes on time but suddenly arrives when you close your eyes long enough. Inevitability can open new pathways we never before realized. Acknowledging death will arrive when it wants to means you have no control over the situation. So don't just sit around waiting for the train to arrive, get out of that damn subway and live every single day like you know its going to come.

Thanks Steve, you've really brought to light some important ideas about the uncertainty of life. I hope we take his passing as a sign of life going on rather than simply a life ending.

A Strange Dream

I was on a cold, iron conveyor belt system. I looked ahead of me and I saw human limbs surrounding me. Blood is scattered everywhere, on the belt and over the walls. I try moving, but can't. I look down and see that I have no lower body. I now move into a third person perspective and I see myself from a bird's eye view. I heard a thundering boom and the conveyor belt starts to move, slowly picking up speed. The cold belt continues to move as I hear a wrenching click with every meter traveled.
Let me clarify that this wasn't a nightmare. I was not scared or frightened about what was going to happen. The feelings of intensity were of excitement. I understood my surroundings and perceived what was happening.
I finally noticed where the conveyor belt was taking my upper body and the other discombobulated limbs. A giant, steaming hot furnace blasted hot air from its vents. I felt the heat travel through what was left of my body. It seems the end was near. I was at harmony with my emotions, with myself. I somehow felt connected with the rest of the world. As I moved swiftly towards the blistering furnace, I thought of my friends, family, failures, dreams, and experiences. I am now a few meters away from entering the roaring fire, as limbs in front of me drop into the furnace, simply popping out of existence. A flood of euphoria cascaded through my body, increasing in intensity until the blackness hit me like nothing.

Basic Needs and Selfishness

Happiness is not a state of mind, but an overall feeling of goodness. I believe happiness is attainable by all individuals that have certain basic qualities of life. The feeling of happiness comes through self-actualization, or analyzing one's motivations and actions. Maslow's hierarchy of needs says that human growth comes in stages and people must satisfy each stage before climbing the ladder towards self-actualization, or an overall feeling of goodness.

Every human being strives to find a place in the world. You tend to surround yourself with people who are similar to you, as in they share the same interests, background, or personal beliefs. Take a look at each of your friends, and ask yourself why you are friends with them. Hopefully, they are individuals who refuse to accept the status quo as the only reality. The world is an enormous canvas and you are one of many painters. Except in our world, the canvas is limitless and constrained only by our underlying assumptions that society has told us.
These assumptions may not always be in a person's best interest. They can prevent you from self-actualizing because they attempt to subdue the power of the individual. They can never steal your thoughts, but they can beat you into the ground until you believe a lie is the truth. In George Orwell's 1984, the individuals are subservient to the government because of fear and manipulation. By the end of the novel, Winston had been tortured and "re-educated" by high ranking government officials. This is a dialogue between Winston and his lover:

"I betrayed you," she said baldly.
"I betrayed you," he said.
She gave him another quick look of dislike.
"Sometimes," she said, "they threaten you with something—something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, 'Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to so-and-so.' And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself."
"All you care about is yourself," he echoed.
"And after that, you don't feel the same toward the other person any longer."
"No," he said, "you don't feel the same."

When basic needs are not met, the potential of the individual is stifled, but not destroyed. When put under atrocious conditions, humans lack the ability to think freely. Removing these constraints leads to clarity and an understanding of human nature. Selfishness is inherent in all humans. Selfishness is certainly logical too. I argue that Winston achieved self-actualization in this dialogue because he looked at his experience and made a conclusion about human nature. He recognized that everyone possesses selfishness, because when it comes down to it, living is what we need.