To Exist
For a person who doesn't support any particular philosophy, I do love learning about them and exploring them. One ideology I have recently found interesting is "existentialism". Existentialism is the idealisation that we do not live by a purpose or standard set by someone else, instead we live our life and give it meaning ourselves, finding our own purpose in this journey.
Essence
Philosophers in the early days were deeply into essentialism. Essence is a core set of properties that are necessary, or essential, for a thing to be what it is. They believed everyone was born with their own essence and a specific purpose in this vast universe.
Essentialism in our culture
Even though the thought of essentialism isn't widely explored in our culture, its basic idea is within every brown parent. Most of them make decisions for their children—if they would be raised to become a doctor or engineer—thus fulfilling their purpose in the family or basically realising their own dreams.
Families that have been following a path for generations usually teach their children to do the same. The children embrace their culture and the past choices their ancestors had made for their future. Most of our parents are convinced that when we have a clarity of purpose, it would lead to success. And it is true.
A strong sense of purpose is definitely essential to succeed in life. If we do not have an inherent sense of what we want, we would not be able to achieve any goal. No one wants to be lazy or broke. These things happen when we don't have a plan, right?
However, we ask, "What is my purpose?"
This is where most brown parents and existentialists collide. Essentialists believe you were born with a purpose. Existentialists believe you were born without a purpose; you will find your purpose as you make yourself along the journey of life. And most of our parents do not agree with the latter.
Embracing existentialism in our culture
Theistic existentialists refute the notion that God created the universe, our world, or even us, with any particular purpose in mind. French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre believed one has to recognise that they give meaning to their own life. If you decide to follow a path that someone else has set for you, then—according to Sartre—you live by bad faith. Basically, it'd be like living in a hole and pretending that something out there has meaning. Meaning that wasn't given by you.
Existentialism isn't a widely explored thought in our culture. However, many are harbouring ideologies of purpose that support the idea of existentialism. Most of us are starting to see that there aren't only one or two destined paths for everyone to follow. There can be other paths too, even for things we're passionate about. These paths are harder to pursue because there isn't a map for success.
People take these leaps of faith because they believe in themselves. If they're passionate about what they do, there's no stopping them. There's no stopping you.
As Sartre put it, there is no traced-out path to lead man to his salvation, he must constantly invent his own path. To invent it, he is free, responsible, without excuse, and every hope lies within him. It is terrifying, but exhilarating.
The writer is a class 10 student at St. Joseph Higher Secondary School.
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