Nothing Matters

 

“I would hurl words into this darkness, and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.”

-Richard Wright

More often than not, I stumble upon thoughts along the lines of ‘everything is trash so why bother, nothing matters in the long run, the world is cruel and uncaring, when the coldness of the never-ending void of oblivion, am I supposed to get excited over simple mediocrities of mundane life’

In the context of how insignificant you are against the march of time, the entirety of humanity and the world, of stars being created and galaxies collapsing, it becomes easier to embrace nihilism: to believe that life has no real meaning or value.

Because in the grand scheme of things you are inconsequential, trivial, barely even a footnote. It is however, important to remember that you don’t actually live in the grand scheme of things.

I reject the philosophy of nihilism, not just because it is too inadequate an answer for too deep a question, but also because human life is deeply and innately ingrained with meaning and I am broadly in favor of humans.

We may be, as far as species are concerned, a total catastrophe, but we are also extremely fascinating. We have achieved far more than any other in known history. We know the most fundamental building blocks of life, we know what keeps the stars apart, we make art and music, and we make each other laugh and cry. Sure, none of it would seem to hold a candle against the tides of the universe but, there’s meaning in human life, because there is meaning in the way that we are bound to each other. There is meaning in loving and being loved. There’s meaning in hearing and being heard. There’s meaning in curiosity, in creating and feeling. there‘s meaning in hurling words into the void hoping for an echo, there’s meaning in being the echo for someone else.

I would be the first to admit that optimism feels foolish or childish, and nihilism feels like a way of trying to cut yourself off from the reality of feeling so you don’t have to grapple with all of the complexities and pain. But dear reader, I implore you to hurl words into the darkness, bring light and noise to where otherwise there would only be cave darkness and silence. Be an echo–to tell your friends and loved ones that you hear them, not just the words that they’re saying. But also the feelings and thoughts that lie beneath those words.  Love and help others, allow yourself the same grace. Make meaning in your life and acknowledge the meaning in others’. Dear reader, do not just gaze into the abyss, maintain uncomfortable eye contact with it.

Maybe nothing matters, but only until we make things matter. And maybe life is meaningless, but only until we make it meaningful.

 Written by: Rtr. Subhathi Kannangara

Design: Rtr. Kavindu Medagoda