Reflection is what feeds human desire for transcendence which ought to flourish human existence, to find value and meaning in our lives. True it is that without reflection, man forgets his nature of exigency that will make him fail to realize meaning and wholeness in his life. However, in the modern setting of our world, what seems to be true is that people seemingly indulging in the idea that reflection kills life. Included in this setting is me.
Just yesterday, I was walking along outside the Katipunan LRT station on my way to have a fancy dinner with my friend. As I passed by the station, which is like always filled with beggars, street children and people rushing from the station, I thought to myself, don’t these rushing people put any value in those beggars? From the distance, I thought that the people from the LRT were thinking nothing about those beggars but trashes and eye sore. As I was approaching the beggars, one kid went to me to which I did not bother to give alms. Why would I concern myself with them anyway? All I had to look forward to then was the dinner that I would surely enjoy and not those beggars, coming to me and asking for coins. Then I realized, I had reduced the concept of my life to a manifestation of animality, only myself mattered above everything. I thought that only those passersby were selfish but in the moment, I too was being egocentric. Nothing mattered to me except for joys and pleasures that I experience in my life. Because the only thing I thought about was the fancy dinner which would feed my enjoyment, I forgot that life isn’t just about my own joys but reaching out to the others around me. Looking at my whole experience, I realized that reflection does kill life. As I was trying to reflect, I was awakened from the illusion of selfishness that I got myself into.
During that moment, I thought that the joy and pleasure I find in food would give meaning to how I would live my life which got me disconnected from the beggars, forgetting that they are also humans and we live in the same world. Looking at it, I wasn’t really living out what human life is supposed to be. All throughout the moment, I was just trying to ignore the importance of reflecting on it which I knew would get me off the tracks to my own enjoyment.Yes, reflection kills life only if you think that life will just revolve around your own joys and satisfaction. Reflection is somewhat KJ but we should remember that life isn’t just about joys. It is not just about ourselves but being with others to whome we must reach out. As humans, we should look at our own lives, and remind ourselves of what the primary essence of our being is.
Reflection creates insight, but like what Ferriols says we can't just stay with the insight. We always have to go back to the human experience to ground it. We are getting desensitized to the poor and the beggars, although that's a sad thing. What we have to do now is to approach these people as human beings, on the level of an encounter. They also have their human worth, and as beings who exist in a world with others, we should do what we can to make their lives better as well.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Co (A)
This can be related to DFW's "This is Water" as we become more aware that life isn't truly about us. We aren't the center of the universe, our egocentric ways is what truly makes our world very broken. Reflection isn't KJ at all because it opens you to realizations of life that actually make you a better person. It kills in a sense that it shatters your own perceptions of this world and brings you into a new world apart from your natural default setting. Reflection truly is something that makes us understand who we are as persons in this world with others. Through reflection, we precisely realize how to live more humbly as we recognize our concerns for others as well.
ReplyDeleteFrenchi Baluyot (A)
I agree with what you said, "As humans, we should look at our own lives, and remind ourselves of what the primary essence of our being is.", because this reflection that we do on ourselves would lead to us being more open, being more understanding, and simply stating..being more. We become more when we are able to see that life is not just centered on us, alone, and we reflect on this. With this, we'll be able to see what we can do, what simple things that we can help with that would help lessen the brokenness of our world.
ReplyDeleteTrixia Tan (C)