One of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver, once wrote, “In this universe, we are given two gifts: the ability to love, and the ability to ask questions.” In wholehearted agreement, I would like to add onto this sentiment: Life is remarkable because we are given the ability to do whatever we please: to love, to ask questions, to laugh, to look on the bright side or the dark side, to chase our dreams, to sing or weep, and to use all the resources the earth provides, or to neglect them. We are not forced to do anything, really, which brings meaning to the things we do choose.
It is true that we cannot always determine our circumstances. I was given olive skin, chestnut eyes, and a house with a mother, father, and brother when God rolled up his sleeves and pulled me into the world. This was not my decision, and whether I like my provisions or not, they’re all I’ve got. From there, each decision I make, whom I love, my reactions to the twists and turns of existence, are all up to me.
There are certain gifts that all people are given, regardless of era, age, race, or privilege, and I consider these gifts essential to our growth as a species. They are music, nature, love, creative expression, and common kindness. Undoubtedly, the poor and the oppressed often must fight 100 times harder than the opportune individual to receive their share of these goods, but most people can enjoy at least one or two of these offerings daily by simply standing right where they are and looking around them. One might even argue that the many frills of wealth and privilege are only distractions from the gifts that are truly life-giving, so then, who truly is privileged after all?
Has anyone truly lived who has not thrown themselves into the great wilds of the outdoors? Grazing their fingers in the loose dirt, dissolving in the hot sun, chewing the fruits, nuts, and leaves of their own labor? Nature brings out the inner savagery that connects all beings: the simplicity of staying alive. We build cement walls to separate ourselves from the wild; we believe that there is nature, and then there is us, but we are nature. Creatures that crawl, eat, and play, creatures that fight to live and gain resources. The mighty oaks and downy moss were made for us as much as we were made for them. We need each other.
Has anyone lived who has not wandered with curiosity into a bending melody, to then find hidden emotions in the words, bliss in the harmonies, and healing from dissonance to consonance? Music can carry us away like a sailboat down a river if we let it. It will make our fears and worries transparent, then glide right through them, cradling us and taking us to a place of solace.
Has anyone lived who hasn’t danced with the thrills and terrors of creativity? Cowering over the edge of a precipice, we choose to jump or stay, wondering if we’ll sink or fly. We dare and expose our deepest secrets in the vulnerable light of creativity, yet we also find our most satiating joy. This joy comes in every shade, from writing in a simple notepad, to planting a garden, to singing to a child, to inventing a new recipe- throwing in this and that, to the inventive hands of a doctor on an open body, to wearing a scent and design that is all our own, clothing, whether stylish or outlandish, cheap or made of gold, that gives our soul a look. We never know who we can be until we take risks and experiment a bit, and we are free, no, implored to do so.
Kindness and love go together, for those who cannot show kindness to a stranger can never demonstrate genuine love to even their closest companions. The mysteries lying behind a stranger’s eyes, and the enticing appeal of needing nothing from them, is intoxicating, better than any drink a bar can supply. Opening one’s mind to the narratives and experiences of someone who is nothing like them is kindling to an inferno of wisdom. Experts estimate that 130 million books have been published, but 7.5 billion stories walk the earth all around us, right now! These stories are people, the very ones who sit next to you at the café, the ones who cross the street and brush up against your arm, the ones who live among you and across the world from you. They are each significant, stimulating, and have lessons to share. This process of discovery, too, is life-giving.
So what excuse then do we have to live a sorrowful life if we have not run dry the well of resources life offers us in plenty? If we do not take every opportunity into our hands and lap the bowl empty, we have no right to sit and complain that we are not given enough. The greatest secret that the rich in spirit have found, is that the bowl never runs empty, and these gifts of life are ours to keep, reuse, and share. We must never complain, never fear emptiness, never sit idly in dissatisfaction, for we are given the tools to bring our souls joy from the moment we are born.