So, I wonder about life a lot. How does one live life? Now, there is a question everybody might be wondering about; however, some prefer not wondering about it at all, as they believe that any amount of introspection on life might kill the joy of living. My wife belongs to the latter, while I to the former. My wife believes that it is pointless to ask questions about life. Life is all about living it as you wish, following your heart, she would say. Whereas I am too worried about living the best form of my life to unquestioningly follow my heart. What makes me uncomfortable is this constant questioning of myself to see if I could do something better in order to anticipate the many simple patterns of life, plan for something unprecedented, so that I avoid suffering and hurt. It works at times, but at other times, I must admit, such a disposition takes the joy out of life. Self-conscious enjoyment is not enjoyment of life, is it? Or is the self-consciousness merely a desire to hold on to the beautiful moments of one’s life?—a kind of romantic resistance to the passage of time, the running out of the wick in the candle.

A famous saying comes to mind: “Go with the flow”. I have heard many of my friends and colleagues prophetically whisper this piece of advice after an exasperating conversation on politics or work. Almost all work places seem to be real-world manifestations of hell and the general work force of a company its grudging slave population. Nobody seems to enjoy their work, or at least that would be the feeling you are left with if you listen to the gossip mills of the work place you are part of. The pace of our work is far too high for the pace of life that most people prefer, and this seems to have set a needless sense of urgency as the default setting of most work environments in the last decade. There is simply too much to do and too little time to do it. This is where, going with the flow might mean, do what you must do if you are in Rome, and be a Roman. There is no point in swimming against the current with the hope of upholding personal ideals.

It requires great courage and effort to retain one’s originality. And most “original” people in today’s world, do not swim against the current. They prefer getting out of the traffic and pursuing an alternate path, where life is as calm as they prefer it to be. This way, these people continue to do what they love doing and avoid unnecessary jostling for space with people who are extremely reliant on well-established systems. I, for one, have a fear of committing to/relying upon well-established systems. There has always been this sense of escape from becoming, as Captain Jack Sparrow’s maddening self would say, “part of the ship; part of the crew”. My road always seems to be the road not taken on any fork that diverges anywhere, yellow wood or not. Now, that seems like a strategy that could work. That also seems like following your heart, with that necessary bit of cheerful unpredictability about life and the course it could take.