Life?

Life exists because of abiogenesis.

After the big bang, the universe settled down enough to form neutrons, protons, and electrons. Eventually this paved the way for the existence of hydrogen, helium, and all the other elementary particles.

We are made of these elementary particles. We walk with, and as, quarks and leptons. Neutrinos pass through us every second that we live.

First it was amino acids, then single-celled organisms. The pioneers of life. Through evolution, living organisms continued to develop features to aid their survival.

Eventually, mammals came to be. And from mammals came us, the humans. We owe our lives to our ancestors, who fought tooth and nail to survive as both predators and prey.

Life was much simpler back then. It was eat or be eaten. For us people in the contemporary world, it is not so simple. We must abide rules of social conduct and bend to cultural demands. The physiological features we are born with inherently affect the way the rest of the population treats us. Truly a species that values aesthetics as much as air and water.

The fact that we are alive is a miracle, but not of the religious kind. Had the antimatter outnumbered the matter in the infancy of the universe, we would simply not be here.

I am alive, and I am aware that I am a mosaic and a masterpiece of nature consisting of blood vessels, organs, neurons, bones, and veins. We often take for granted how well our bodies work; A finely crafted machine created by evolutionary pressure and surviving deoxyribonucleic acids.

As contemporary people, our personal lives are often wrought with endless internal turmoil and struggles of self-esteem. Such is the aftermath of a structured civilization. The birth of language gave us the gift of enlightenment, yet also the curse of awareness.

Another byproduct of complex civilizations is the social hierarchies it creates; Whether it is concerning the color of one’s skin or just the petty caste systems we all probably experienced in middle school. These hierarchies inextricably divide the human race and cause much grief and strife; Sometimes even mass murder and genocide.

Sometimes, I think that humans are abominations of nature. For what kind of organism is capable of mass killing its own kind? And the killings are for reasons more unreasonable than the reasons animals kill.

For me, the reason we live is simply to have our sample taste of the universe before fading away, the atoms that we consist of returning eventually to the atmosphere, or to the ground, but eventually to the stars and the galaxies far away as per the nature of entropy.

To be alive and to be able to eat good food, experience art that touches the soul, and sleep soundly on a lazy afternoon, is truly something to appreciate. Something we often take for granted.

Memories form our personalities and define the coping mechanisms we learn and acquire to survive. In a way, we are our memories. But sometimes we have to separate ourselves from our memories and reconnect with our core selves.

We would do well to remember that the troubles we have are miniscule compared to the grand scheme of things. Eventually, these troubles will leave our minds. And eventually, our minds will leave the Earth.

We must find joy in our impermanence, because through ephemeral existence do we find joy in the little things, the big things, the mundane things.

And that is life. Life, the game where how well you play depends on how well you handle the things thrown your way. Life, the unfair race. Life, the byproduct of a chain of events.

Cherish it. Live in accordance with nature. And never choose hatred; You will not flourish.

From one collection of atoms to another.