Lest We Live: Differentiation Of The Living

Is it for certain that we are alive? We have indigo fluids pumping to and from the outmost extremities of our bodies, our lungs gather the oxygen to accompany the indigo which fills ourselves, we ingest the nutrients necessary for sustainability which digests mere hours after consumption, our brains conjure enough rationality to maintain our consciousness while operating all of our bodily functions and senses. By definition we are alive, but does this suggest that we are in fact living.

Before we are even expelled in our infancy from our motherly wombs, the identities of who we will develop to be has already been deliberated for us.  As those we associate to be the ones to raise us, they seek to direct us into the position in which they dream for us to assume. Whether this be a shared desire or submission to appease those of whom we love, it is certain that the path we take when striving to achieve this position, whether it is the one premeditated for us or one completely different than the one of their choosing, defines whether we are in fact living.

As soon as we are of age we are cast from the arms of our care givers and placed into those who are given the task of reforming us into the individuals that society defines as normal. However, what is normal? How can one add definition to a term that possesses a different implication with each individual who utters it? The word normal retains a certain paradoxical effect as we are cast into a society that persist the individuality of each person be recognized while at the same time remain within the certain limitations put in place which these persons can recognize as what they assume to be normal. Those who stray too far outside of these limits are condemned or commended to the upmost extremes based on the general appeal to the majority of those who dare not stray out of the boundaries.

It is essential to acknowledge the importance of the concept of recognizable normality. As the idea of individuality is encouraged as well as enforced in today’s society, it is demonstrated that each individual formulates a new norm that they identity with that differs even in the slightest of ways from every other individual. This concept illustrates that the notion believed to be the norm is in fact non-existent. The general norm which is proposed to guide society is formulated based on the commonalities found within each individual’s norm that the majority can relate to. From these commonalities a system is bred in which people are expected to abide by the common ideas found within each norm, or to adopt them if they were not once present or you were once against them in your individual norm. As is the mind, the individual norm has great elasticity as it can be formed and altered through the events which take place in the individual’s life. Through tragedy and comedy, or the other individuals who make the concepts within their norm appealing or know how to enforce them, can alter one’s own norm as it is refines or flourishes. 

The norm in which one lives defines their beliefs, morals, as well as the actions they commit through their daily activities. It is through the commonalities that society is able to establish the boundaries in which one is expected to remain to be considered part of the norm. These commonalities allow for individuals to unite or to disassociate themselves by committing to the majority or following their own set limitations. Those who possess enough defiance to not allow themselves to conform to the common norm can establish the parameters in which they define their own lives.