Life...

[DÛke]

...

Alright, I decided to start something quite different here. Usually, I just plug in a notification of my new song, but...not this time. This time, I actually have a question...it could be simple to some and complex to others.

Do you believe that an individual can never get the most of life unless he or she has gone throughout some painful life experiences?

My personal opinion would be that, if a person has not experienced mourning, depression, and many, many other hurtful possiblities, than that person cannot truely understand the value of life...therefore cannot be very much happy, since happiness is the only thing experienced by that individual. Maybe the real question is, do all people go through depressing times...and if so, doesn't that just seem a bit unsettling -- especially for a society that is mostly attached to a "god"?

I dunno...just something I was thinking...

The new track is, as you may have guessed, about this topic...but it's about my opinion that you can't be happy unless you've been otherwise.

[WARNING: DO NOT visit the link or even bother with the track if you're a Christian who is easily offended by (anti)religious symbolism and metaphors.]

The track is called, Inverted Crossroads [title slightly edited so as not to offend anyone]: http://www.acidplanet.com/Lounge/Detail.asp?PID=134942

 

[terzarima]

Mmmm.... cows... I mean... music

I don't regret to say I like this one. Despite the lack of cello... which I crave so much... Anyways, I agree with many of the comments that its very march like, the beat is very..... military.

For some odd reason... unlike Mr. Echoes, I was assaulted by memories and pictures... it was nostalgic as much as it was driving forward.

I somewhat disagree with others that its a gothic like sound. It has a gothic feel at the begging, but it is not gothic. And you know I love my gothic music. And on a side note: God oink it, I can't find spiritual archives anywhere....

The middle... kindof makes me feel like you're going through a jungle for some odd reason.... In fact, I can link all the parts in this music to the environment...

So overall, I find this one quite fantasmic.

Grrrrreat job dukling,

Andrew.

 

[Spiderman]

Do you believe that an individual can never get the most of life unless he or she has gone throughout some painful life experiences?

This is a tough question and I'll fall on the side of "No", but only because of the way the question is asked right now without further clarification.

I say this because I'm not sure what "painful" really is. Heartbreak? Loss of a loved one? Burning your hand on the stove even though your mother told you it was hot?

Some things are most likely inevitable like a death or heartbreak in a person's life, but the way the question is worded implies that some painful experiences are not experienced by everyone, so it's not the same, which is why I fall to "No"

 

[DÛke]

...thank Ademis. I still like Haunting Echoes better. That's what so great about music: there's no wrong and right. Did I tell you I'm working on "Haunting Echoes (Extended Remix)? It's the one that is about a minute longer, with additional sfx, and more "feel." The remix is done, I just need to make it "haunting" now.

Spiderman -- painful in a "mental" way...not physical, like burning your hand. ANYTHING that can make you COMPLETELY depressed...miserable...suicidal...anything. You don't think everyone goes through that stuff? Well then, can they really appreciate life?

 

[Spiderman]

Well, what's "appreciate"?

 

[Zadok001]

They wouldn't have the same comparitive basis as those that HAVE gone through such a thing, obviously. HOWEVER, I do not believe that allows for greater or lesser appreciation of life - I don't believe it's a quanitifiable unit of measurement. You can't "appreciate more" or "appreciate less," IMHO. (You can, of course, appreciate something recognizably a lot, or less, but two people who both appreciate something cannot adequately compare who appreciates it MORE.)

 

[Spiderman]

That pretty much sounds like what I was thinking, except I couldn't say it like that

 

[DÛke]

...disagree.

I think it's impossible for a person to really appreciate something (including life) if he or she didn't go through hell to get that thing. You're telling me that a person who'd been struggling all of his or her life for decades, but finally finds the light of joy would enjoy that fact as equal as a person who's been getting everything the easy way?

Or are you saying that happiness has one degree that everyone can understand despite the degree of unhappiness an individual has gone through?

I must disagree with anything you're saying that maybe walking along those lines...

 

[Spiderman]

Like Zadok said, "life" is not quantifiable. There are no "steps" or paths that everyone must take to enjoy life. Otherwise, everyone would end up doing the same thing.

For instance, you enjoy composing. That art is helping you to enjoy life. However, that just doesn't do it for me.

On the other hand, I swim. This helps me to enjoy life. You may not like that particular activity, however.

Does this mean we are not enjoying life because I'm not doing what you like and vice versa?

 

[DÛke]

...boy...

Spiderman, what you're saying has got *nothing* to do with what I'm saying at all...nothing.

Myself:

My personal opinion would be that, if a person has not experienced mourning, depression, and many, many other hurtful possiblities, than that person cannot truely understand the value of life.

I hope this makes it more clear.

Everyone does their own thing...everyone knows that. That was not my question. Basically, how can you tell what happiness is if you haven't gone through sadness? You might say, how can one know what sadness is if haven't gone through happiness...and my answer would be, we're all born happy, so we all know what happiness is.

My question is, can a person really enjoy his or her accomplishments and current status if that person has not worked hard, struggled, suffered...etc...etc...etc...for what he or she has obtained?

 

[Spiderman]

This sounds suspiciously like "how can one know good without evil", or how can God allow the Devil to exist?

Anyhoo, I apologize for misinterpreting your question. But I still think that a person does not have to go through some amount of hardship to enjoy his accomplishments. Why? I interpret "enjoying" as "being happy". If I am happy with what I do or did, does it matter how I got there? Whether through hardship or not?

There's just too many (I see four) paths that can happen to definitely say whether suffering can increase your enjoyment of your accomplishments.

• not suffer and succeed (or be happy with what you do)
• not suffer yet not succeed
• suffer and succeed
• suffer and still not succeed

An experience might color one's attitude toward the outcome, like if someone's fiancee survived the WTC, they might want to get married "right now" as opposed to the 2003 original wedding date, and perhaps that might be more to what you're saying. But since no one can truly measure "degrees of happiness" or enjoyment, I don't think you can say whether hardship makes one enjoy it more than one who has not experienced it.