Friday 27 February 2009

How to know everything

OK, so I suppose it must be accepted that we will never know everything. But in response to my previous self-pitying and philosophising post, La wonderful blogger Belette Rouge asked me

I want to know how you know these things. I am curious about how you learned those lessons.

To start with, my immediate response was I don't know.

I know that sometimes I do sound like an old head on young shoulders, but this is well balanced out by plenty of entirely stereotypical teenage girl behaviour and a good dose of childish immaturity.

I know that I have not had a particularly eventful life, in comparison. Yes, I have experienced death, new life, success and rejection but not in any drastic misery-memoir sort of way. I have not lived a fast drugs, sex and rock'n'roll life and there are plenty of things I have not experienced which my comtemporaries have.

I know that I think a lot; maybe that is why. I spend hours analysing every aspect of life and still don't know what the right answer is. I am happy, though, walking and indeed also talking with only my own thoughts for company. Even so, I have once or twice sent myself into worrying hysteria. I enjoy learning, studying, so maybe I do think more than other people. But I also spend a great deal of time talking, without thinking whatsoever.

I know that I love people. I am happy with just my thoughts, but I come alive with other people. Last week I went to a party with many people who knew each other and didn't know me. They all asked me: 'how do you know everyone here?'. As soon as I meet somebody, and we make each other laugh, any negative thoughts melt away. Maybe it is loving people, both those whom I am very close to, and those with whom I laughed once.

I know that I laugh a lot. I can make people laugh. Sometime, I like my humour but other times I don't. One thing I strongly believe is that life is a 'laugh or cry' situation. That's how we can respond to things: either laugh at them or cry. Of course, I do cry, but mainly I laugh.

What I know for certain, is that I am a bookworm. I love reading, immersing myself into a whole other world. When I was younger, my mother told me that I read too much, that I had to experience life first-hand. But I'm not going to go out and experience Narnia first-hand, now am I? Even so, beautiful writing can teach you about the emotions of life in a way which I don't think hinders our own experiences. I think it enhances them.

So there it is, the route to knowing everything, according to me. Live, love, laugh and read a lot.

3 comments:

  1. Lovely thoughts--I like old heads on young shoulders. Precocious people who will alwayas be adults when others will never reach maturity in mind even when their bodies are ancient...
    Also, it is funny: the more I read about people who have experienced so much the more I put my own experiences into perspective and am absorb them/deal with them...

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  2. Thank you for responding to my wonderings. I am terribly interested in the specifics of people and less interested in the big generalities. I think that is one of the great things about blogs. Through blogs you get to learn specifics about people you don't even know.
    "Live, love, laugh and read a lot." That is my favorite maxim ever.:-)

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  3. Belette, I am honoured by you saying that it is your favourite maxim :)

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