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Life Layers
What is a rich life?
I think it is a valid question to ask oneself these days, perhaps always, because we are surrounded by a lot more perspective of life than we were earlier. It wasn't that long ago where people barely moved from their own town, let alone travelled to other countries, and we are now in a period where we can get views of every part of the world, and interact with all kinds of people. As a result, we see much of what we would never otherwise see, and it has changed our expectations about what is important in life, and what we should be able to experience. Yet at the same time, there is far more available that we will never have access to, never be able to experience, because only so much can fit into one life - especially given limited resources.
In many ways, I have been fortunate, as I have been able to live in a few cities in two different countries, as well as visit several countries more on vacations and for work. I have been able to meet people from all over the world and spend decent amounts of time with many of them. I have seen some pretty amazing things - but is that what what makes life rich?
Partly.
Yet while travel and seeing some amazing things is great, I don't think it inherently provides rich experience. I know some very well-travelled people who have been to all the famous landmarks, but haven't really done anything more than get a postcard picture. They haven't had the curiosity to explore, nor the willingness to take any risks at all. They have never gone off the beaten track. To me, that seems like wasted opportunity, but for them, it might be enough.
I think if there were a few components for a rich life, I would say that it comes down to social relationships, meaningful activity, creative outlet, and love. It doesn't really take too much else to be happy and have days filled with what would be considered quality of life.
Yet we have largely bought into the life as a consumer that has been pushed to us, where we are made to believe that in order to have a good life, we have to purchase experience. We are always told to "buy experience, not stuff", but we seem to have failed to realise that the experience we are largely buying, is just stuff we can't take with us. It is just another form of something to collect.
Perhaps we should look at experience more from the perspective of what we learned, and what we are able to apply. Some people spend a lot of time collecting knowledge, but it is largely useless, impractical knowledge. They feel clever for having it, but all they can really do with it is win a game of Trivial Pursuit, because what they know is trivial.
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
Trivial
/ˈtrɪviəl/
adjective
of little value or importance.
It is not what you know, it is how you use it.
And I think this is the same with the experiences that we have. It isn't even how it makes us feel in the moment that is important, but what we are able to do with it later. Even love, which most people do want to have, takes a process of learning, failure, and incremental understanding to the point that it is possible to love, unconditionally. Many people these days are so afraid of being hurt, that they can never discover what it is to love. Instead, they devalue love by applying to whatever they happen to like at the moment, whether it is a person, or a sandwich.
Having rich experience isn't about travelling to all the beautiful places in the world, because that is only one facet of experience. Experience comes in many forms and half of them at least could be considered negative as they do not make us feel good, do not bring a smile to our face, and can cause a huge amount of pain. Yet it is often on the other side of these kinds of experiences that good experiences can be appreciated, and even the small, seemingly unimportant facets of life, become meaningful.
We keep chasing good experiences.
Without understanding what good experience is.
We too often define our experiences as good if they make us feel good at the time and bad if they make us feel bad. But, if we were to do the same with knowledge, we would put ourselves at a huge amount of risk, because we wouldn't understand risk itself. We wouldn't be prepared for what we might face. And I think good experience is what provides learnings for good living, which means it also has to change our behaviours. Climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower provides a beautiful view over Paris, but does it shift our own view of the world? Does it provide the stimulus to change for the better?
Maybe.
But not inherently. Seeing that view doesn't automatically give us rich experience, unless we are attentive enough and thoughtful enough to generate the wealth from the event. Otherwise, it is just another trivial pursuit.
Many people don't actually think through the name of that game, especially if they are good at it. They think that knowing a lot to be good at it means they are intelligent, but that is not the case. It is possible to know a lot and be an idiot, if what is known isn't able to be applied.
A good memory doesn't give the hands skill.
A rich life is one that has variation within. A spectrum of experiences that come together to make us who we are. And valuable experience is when lessons are learned and then applied from those events to affect the things that matter to us for a good life; social relationships, meaningful activity, creative outlet, and love.
We needn't see the landmarks or climb Everest to have a rich life, we needn't ever live our own town. But, we must be open to the range of experiences on offer and be curious enough to walk down roads and talk on topics that make us uncomfortable, that threaten what we know. Too many fear being wrong, as they see it as a failure, to the point that they choose ignorance instead. Only taking part in experiences that they assume won't challenge their beliefs.
That is a poor life.
And the form it takes today is the life of a consumer. The life following what we have been told and sold, because it is safe. The feeling comes from attainment, not the journey and as such, there is very little to keep learning. The joy of buying a terrible first car might be greater than the joy of buying a Ferrari, because it was new, challenging. At some point, all the consumer experiences are the same, because it is not about the experience with the product or what can be learned, it is about a dopamine hit.
We can see so much of the world and take in so many perspectives, yet what are we learning from it that makes our lives better? We have reduced the value of our journey down to getting a postcard image of a place we never truly experienced. We reduce the value of our activity to the amount we can consume, rather than what we have learned that makes our lives richer, fuller, and filled with love.
There are many layers of experience, yet we have become stuck on the trivial.
If it didn't make life better, was it worth it?
Taraz
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I have never had a lot of experiences you mentioned in your first times post. Never pierced my ears, never had a true kiss/ girlfriend/ moved out of my parent's home...Still I find my life interesting and entertaining enough. The cool thing about life is that it is full of exciting possibilities that I couldn't even dream off. like finding Hive almost 8 years ago...
You don't need many firsts, just the right ones. What would you like to do next?
Today I found out that people can register as an artist in Displate( a place that sells metal posters) and sell posters of their art there. I think that I should still buy camera first for better quality of my photos. Still I think that this could be my next attempt to sell something...the idea of metal posters seems cool.
At this point I am not sure if I will ever have a girlfriend but that would be an interesting experience as well.
That does sound pretty cool.
It isn't that hard to have a girlfriend, is it?
It is quite hard because so far no girl even agreed to go on a date with me...
Information without application is entertainment. Mostly we are entertaining ourself when we think we are gaining information.
We cannot get the experince mere watching or learning certain things. It is like the young kids in my block, who knows cricket, but never played the game correctly. In my perspective, When life gives the oppurtunity, we should experience and explore it completely rather than being just a spectator. These days I met few travellor, who just wants to go certain places for namesake, like to keep up in their record book. They never interested in knowing much about the place...pretty strange as traveling is just now done for namesake.
This is how I see it. May as well collect bottle caps.
It seems the armchair athlete group is growing globally.
It is true that even though traveling can be really rewarding, the richness of our experiences usually stems from the relationships we build and the insights we gain throughout the journey.
And I reckon most of what we actually value, is much closer to home.
I'd still like to get outside of the country one day, but I have also accepted that if I never do there is a ton of stuff right outside my door that is worth exploring. I am starting to realize in terms of social interaction there is just so much competition these days. Even if my wife and I are willing to step outside of our comfort zone, so many people have retreated into their bubble, so it makes it doubly hard to have that interaction.
Yes it does. However, it also makes it easier for those who are out looking to build a social network, because there are others looking too. Kind of clears out some of the trash.
Yeah, I guess we are just too picky!
I've been staring at this local model of consumerism on Hive for quite a few years, noticing how it's different. Fair, balanced. Stems from wanting to be supportive, all while receiving a form of gratitude in return. Similar to a handshake, maybe.
I'm resorting to comparisons to explain a unique vision. Always hard to describe, because it's different or new, yet almost ten years old.
Traditional consumerism, which is something I've always believed to be unfair and unrewarding, leaves a heavy, thick fog behind. I think that's what people see, regardless. And maybe here, the fear of being ripped off will always linger, holding back progress in that department.
A lot of experts are saying people are going to have a lot more time to live and share their experiences in the future. A new form of trade. Others see the world ending, overrun with robots. I see that happening only if society becomes dependent on AI as the provider of all things, basically consuming us.
Of course it's difficult to experience the future. One can only sit, wait, and watch. Been thinking about it a lot again today. Decided to put that vision to rest. Painful but necessary.
It is the fog that I feel from it. There is so little enjoyment in what I see other people enjoying. Am I broken?
I suspect that there will be again a split, with an ever-smaller group of people taking the extreme approach of not doing what the masses are doing. they will be the ones benefiting from the masses.
I added more to my comment, as I was thinking about it more. Thought I'd get it in before a response.
Nothing big. Just considering all angles. Too tired to swim upstream.
AI will turn traditional consumerism (especially in media) into a personalized generated vegetative state of forever looking and never finding.
Or a vegetative state where people will remain in a program, as their body wastes away. We are almost there now.
Pods and feeding tubes. Some will work inside those things, controlling robots out in the field. Everything from military service to gardening. Space missions. Not everyone will be cutout for those jobs either. Oddly enough some studies are showing gamers would be the most qualified. All while advancements in medicine can help prevent physical decay. And since it's work, once the shift is over, they'd probably want to get out of that thing with a quickness. But here's me just trying find that silver lining, and nearly becoming inspired to start writing sci-fi. So close.
Just like someone can be very knowledgeable but the knowledge he possess are about trivial things or things that matter little, so can one be rich in experiences, but the experiences will be low quality ones, ones that can't change a life, one that can be best described as "having a good time."
Qualitative experiences change our view of the world, of people, helps us learn more about how the human mind and human society works, thus improving us socially. It can also help us to know the important history of certain places, etc, or acquire important mindsets or attitudes that can really make our lives better. That, I think, equates to a rich life.
You know, many people can see the same thing but get different interpretations. That's how many travel round the world, some see only the aesthetic views, good company, good food, etc, but others travel and learn important social and cultural lessons, learn to think and view life differently, thus becoming better people. It depends on what you make of your experiences because most of the time we all experience the same thing.
Yes. But I wonder if it is the experience, or the perception and understanding of the experience that determines the quality. I suspect it is the individual - since two people can view the same thing and have very different experiences.
And this is the problem I see. Because most people don't seem to make much of their experience - it is just a way to fill the space of their life.
I guess I should consider my life to be rich in terms of experiences, travel and even consumerism.
I even got to live for a month in Germany while I was eighteen. I think living in various countries gives you more experiences than visiting as a tourist. And I lived in Ukraine, Russia, Germany and USA. I visited Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, Poland, Austria, Italy, Netherlands and Great Britain. I guess that I still have a lot of places to see and visit...
Consumerism is a part of the richness too - but I think we overvalue how big a part it should be. Money buys a lot of experience, but it doesn't buy awareness.
Where was the most interesting place you lived?
I think my favorite place to live is USA. I first came to California and got a high school diploma there. Then I went to university in Kansas, where I visited a bunch of states around it like Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois, Florida, etc. Then I moved for my job to Washington State and we have a place in Hawaii...
So living in USA I got to experience a lot of variety and got to meet a lot of different people as well as experience all kinds of nature and climates, so it has been the most interesting place to live.
What i feel stands out here is the rejection of experience . Travel, knowledge, and even love have kinda been reduced to things to acquire rather than processes to undergo. Experience to an extent is treated as something to collect as such i believe it loses its capacity to genuinely transform. For experience to be real i believe it has to challenges us, unsettle us and ultimately force us to change how we live and relate.
Yet in the culture we have created, most of us shy away from anything that challenges us in ways we don't want.
A kinda critique here is of the consumer culture. We’ve been told to get experiences but these experiences generally have to be bought and they are sought of simply rebranded consumption. What im trying to say is today, experiences have become things we buy to feel good for a short time. They give us a quick sense of excitement, but they don’t help us grow. Because of that, life can feel busy and entertaining, yet still empty. It feels safe and comfortable, but it doesn’t help us become better or deeper people.
And it is like being hungry and eating air - the hunger doesn't go away.
The culture of consumerism is the result of human intelligence, of the great advances in science and technology, AI and everything related to it and we will continue to move in that direction. And this culture of consumerism is as dangerous as all ideologies, which are created, exist and are used to dominate the market as a commodity that is marketed as an innocent, useful and necessary commodity for the consumer, it is a simple but truthful formula, the advertised good ceases to be a good, nothing trivial, by the way...
Isn't it impressive that all the advancement we have created as a species, is pretty much used to make money without adding value?
Ohhhh yes, this is the paradox of Moderna society about capitalism that values what can be quantified in money, I think it is a very insightful observation that reflects a common criticism of the current system, which is frivolous, but profitable... where "having" sometimes prevails over "being" or the well-being of everyone.
For me, a rich life is one in which I can genuinely say "I am happy." I have that now, even at an age at which many people feel irrelevant. A lot of my happiness could be in my regularly challenging myself, the most recent of these challenges was to play violin for a xmas concert in an orchestra, which I had not done in 52 years! It was very difficult, I practiced a couple hours every day to do this, and managed to know where we were in the music for all four pieces, and to play most of it very well. I relearned and awful lot about playing the violin, and for that I am grateful. I've also got Tai Chi to strive to be better at, and two wonderful daughters.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Love that shot of the puppy in a lap!
It is the genuine part that is hard to achieve. Lot's of ways to fake it, but none of them are lasting.
That is so awesome that you were willing and able to play in the orchestra!!!
It was very exciting! I can't wait to do it again! I know more about how to get ready now. I had to work quite hard, because we only had three rehearsals, and the music was surprisingly difficult.
By rich life we only understand being rich and walking around feeling rich and living a life of great luxury. But to me, rich life means feeling comfortable. Like you said earlier people wanted to be confined to a particular city but now people travel the world and want to enjoy themselves and that is what is truly rich. Because through this people feel comfortable. Living such a comfortable life with good health is the real rich life.
And if you use it more for other needy around us, it makes it more meaningful and gives a lot of satisfaction. The true richness lies in how happy we end up being, and most of our happiness comes from giving - not necessarily wealth.