Cornelius

My initial reaction to this prompt was brimming with romance, adventure, shenanigans, and tales that stir the soul. I was a traveling-musician-acrobat-poet-pirate-philosopher who people called Cornelius. I had sailed the seven seas. I had seen many magnificent landscapes, cultures, and peoples. I had peace of mind. I had enlightened the lives of many. I had fallen in immaculate romantic love, whatever that may be.  As this movie played out in my head, it occurred to me that it is just that. A fiction. As an unrelenting optimist, I will certainly argue that these things are possible. However, there is a notion that I wish more people would understand, myself included. It is brief and concise: you cannot control the future. You can influence it, shape it, and guide it but you cannot control it. I believe that people tend to extrapolate the present into the future. I am [this way], so I will be [that] tomorrow, a week, or a lifetime from now. Additionally, I believe people create expectations and ideals (I certainly do) which position people in stressful and/or painful dilemmas. Building your life’s foundation around the something that is capricious – the future – can be very painful.

I want to argue for a different perspective, a different way of thinking about the future in a way that I believe is more wholesome and practical. All philosophical questions aside, they only thing we can arguable control are things in the present. I believe that if we optimize the present (“carpe diem,” in essence) one can most effectively shape their future. Instead thinking of “how will I see myself in 20 years,” I want to change my thinking to “what step can I take now?” I believe that laissez fare, if one optimizes the present, one will arrive at a content future – albeit possibly and most likely far from where one expected to be. I do not want this response to seem like I’m dodging the question, so I will say this — there are general things I know I want to do in life. I want to make people feel happy to be a sentient sac of molecules on a ball in space, have a lot of meaningful shenanigans with loved ones, help as many people as possible, and fall in love (romantically).

There is a quote that was shown to me by professor Fowler, a character in the Twilight Zone episode “Changing of the Guard.” The great educator Horace Mann once said that one “should be ashamed to die until they have won some victory for humanity.” I want to do that. Win some, small, victory for humanity. As for specifics, I will let my todays and yesterdays answer that.