I have this saying, "traveler of life". It could also resemble being the traveler of a path or setting a lifetime goal. But here, i mean something more extreme. I wrote a blog post here where i relate a human life to a tree. And this post will have my views of a more specific subject, about people's perceptions and motivations of life. This will be a bitter one.
When someone dedicates their effort to achieve something or get somewhere, we may call it they are working for a purpose, they are travelers of an end. That end, that target, can be a number of things. Maybe a position, a house or a car, maybe fame or maybe a marriage. This means they will work to get there, they will reach that target by figuring out what to do and doing them. This target can become an obsession for a person too. It can become the focus of their life. In that case, we imply that we know where they will be in a point in the future and say, they are travelers of a path. At least, this is roughly the meaning.
But there is one level further than this and i will analyze that. Being a traveler of a life and trying to construct themself there. So, what is the difference from the expression above? Long story short, it's bigger, unidirectional and even mortal.
There is a life that these people can't even think of an alternative for or even consider themselves part of it delusionally. That life is not exactly a specific target. Maybe it is a lifestyle, or the experiences that they can live, or the places they can go or items they can acquire. There are no tangible meta they can get upon reaching that life. It is mostly a manifestation of "this is the way to live in this world".
As a matter of fact, it is not important to know what that life is. Because at the end of the day, they will say this: See, i am in a frame, with the things i am experiencing and the items i persist. This is much more than a goal a person would set for themself. This is their philosophy of life or the very meaning of life. You can't live in another form in this world. All the things they do start looking like copies of the people of that life and even their thoughts start developing and forming like they are living in it.
They get carried away in the name of that life. They must be on the whatever necessary path to get there. The other paths are irrelevant and even waste of time. They act under the commanding of that life in every decision or action.
They must reach that life regardless of where they came from or where they are or who they are. They are blind and deaf to everything they come across with. They jump from paths to paths. It becomes tiresome and they might even get hurt but as far as they are concerned, it is the not-lived part of their life. The real life would begin when they achieve that life. Maybe a year from now, maybe 10 years...
They see eveything they go through in life, either as premise of that life or accumulate them or simply ignore them. Unfortunately, they lose their own self identity on the way. But if you ask them, they don't have a life until they reach that life. That is why they are usually ignorant or impervious. They don't care what they might be losing, missing or wasting. They don't live, they just travel.
But the irony is that they might realize that their wounds are bleeding and they are left without a "self" in the end if they ever reach there. Up till that point, it is not necessary to put much effort to fool themselves, because they are certain about themselves and their goals. But upon reaching the final destination, there emerges the question "what now?", because they don't have any more dreams or places to go from there.
Maybe, they can't even find satisfaction in that life, who knows. The painful cost of ignoring the past and saying "life starts now" is to have been lost everything they have come across. They are probably alone or lonely. Even if they are not, they are captives of that life in that ultimate point with no way to return. We don't know if they see this as captivity, maybe it is a matter of life or death for them.
The most unfortunate thing about these people is that they are irreversible. Because they are not people who are working for a specific target. Rather, they are usually so obsessed, they can't even live without a specific life. There is no meaning of anything if they are not living that life. So sadly, the time that a connection can be opened is the point of no return. There is only one way and they will stick to it. I said they don't live, they just travel. Now i am adding that this is the sentence they put on themselves and their imprisonment.
If you ask them, they might say that there is a milestone in their life and they chose their path there. Or on the contrary, they might say that they are taking control of their life. What i feel is it almost looks like it was in their destiny or embedded in their genes. They probably don't even realize this and try to find an excuse for themselves. I think this motivation can be set in the early stages of life, even in childhood at the age of about 4-5.
Think about it. If you realize that you are destined or bound to live in this world by disregarding every path that comes across, by looking away from every experience you can have and by wasting everything you have and with the perception that you can only exists in a certain point in this life, that would be quite a shock. They start their journey with a one way ticket, but they try to realize themselves in that life without seeing they are on a journey. Ironically they dissolve themselves in the process. They try to be what that life requires them to be. We don't have to obey these rules or we are helpless to get out. You can also check out my post about The choice.
So at the end of the day, i don't say that these people's destiny is to be wasted in this world. This is basically surrender or will. I haven't given a single example for the term i call "that life". Because it doesn't matter what it is or how it looks. But if you ask me why i did all this analysis, let me tell you why. I didn't mention at the beginning to avoid looking like a click-bait. The term "influencer" emerged and social media propagated it everywhere. This significantly increased the number of people we say "traveler of a life". You can also find a very accurate portrayal of this in the Netflix series called "As the crow flies".
This post was a bit of mix but you have probably seen the big picture by now. I am not intended to judge anyone here. I am not going to put apples and oranges in the same bag. To sum up: This is not life. Life is something you live through and experience. It is in our hands and it is presented to us. It looks to me it is the biggest mistake of us humans. Because we are wasting all this potential and possibility in the name of placing ourselves in a certain point, instead of setting ourselves targets to achieve and grasp the life.
I would also have a warning in this post. But it would be in the form of a question. Which life do you think is acceptable? Who knows, maybe one day, i can also write a post titled "The living dead". See you at the next post..
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