I couldn't think of anything to blog about this week, which made me kind've sad. Sophie kind've blogged about what I was going to blog about, so there went that. I had no choice but to turn to Calvin and Hobbes for guidance. I knew I would find inspiration with the help of my crazy old friend, Calvin. And, alas! I did. (I guess)
Going back to one of the main motifs of Sefer Kohelet: Ein Chadash Tachat Hashemesh. I think this concept is particularly interesting. We like to think that everything we do and think is unique, but what if it's not? What if somebody's thought what we've thought in the past and somebody else will think what we've thought in the future? What if our lives aren't special, we're just cogs in the little cycle thing? I mean, that's some sad shtuss.
In the comic above, Calvin is hilarious as usual. But still- look at what he's saying about time: all is one, and existence in the temporal sense is illusory." Calvin should have hung out with Kohelet. I can only imagine why a guy (Kohelet) with a complex about dying and leaving a footprint would be very bothered by the idea that nothing really changes. That essentially means that nothing you do really makes a difference. Because it already was and will be. Woopdie-doo: nothing you do matters! What a heartwarming feeling. The world is cyclical and we're a part of that cycle. Oy vey.
On a sort of related note, let's put some (drum roll) pop culture perspective into this!
Think of the last movie you watched. Or the last song you listened to. Did the movie have any new ideas that you haven't seen in every other movie you've watched? Did the song sound like every other song you've listened to? The last movie I watched was Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing. That's not new. That was first a Shakespeare play, preformed on stages all over; then it was a movie; now it is a new movie. But it's not really a new movie. Or is it?... The direction was different than the previous movie, the actors were different.. It was very different, yet, very familiar.
You guys, wanna offer up some advice for Calvin and me?
What do you have to say?
Do things change, or is everything just the same (ie, we only would like to believe that things are different)?
How can you tell if something is new?
Do we have a purpose in this cycle?
What complex questions you and Calvin have come up with! I'd like to venture a guess about our purpose in this complicated cycle. Unlike our early introduction to the despondent Kohelet, I'd like to make the claim that we, in fact, do have a purpose in this world, and that we work hard constantly to do our best to accomplish it.
ReplyDeleteI agree. What's the point of trying your hardest if there will always be someone better than you? But if we take in this philosophy into our lives it could cause a lot of harm. It is very possible to become depressed thinking this way.
ReplyDeletePS. You have really fun blogs to read about.
Two things: 1) classic you using a Calvin & Hobbes comic and 2) classsssic Calvin & Hobbes having a comic about every topic 'תחת השמש.'
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, before learning קהלת (and reading your blog) I always thought I was a pretty unique person. I never thought that there was change - I even thought that was obvious. Now that I have learned קהלת, I doubt that a little. I think I've come to a conclusion that doesn't depress me yet is realistic at the same time: things don't change.. unless we actively try to change them. We do have a purpose - some us realize and tap into that purpose and some of us don't. It's all a matter of if we try or not.