Some years back, say two or three, I used to be a harsh realist in life. The kind that would see people throw fireworks to celebrate New Year’s Day so I would rush to remind them that calendar years are just a social construct made up by Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII to distinguish between one winter season and the next, and thus have no real influence on our lives.
The kind that would see people celebrate their birthday, so I would rush to remind them that nothing will change just because the Earth completed a Heliocentric revolution around a ball of burning Helium atoms, except that they are inching closer to their death.
The kind that would see someone feel important, so I would remind them that they are just a mere speck on an infinitesimal rock floating in the universe.
I used to be a spoilsport. A killjoy. The one that is never fun at parties. I do not know what changed me, but eventually, I changed. Glad I did. I learnt that being too rational about life is negative. It takes away a portion of us by numbing our crucial emotions.
You know, it is our irrationalities that make us human. Otherwise, we would have no difference from robots. We would be mere machines made of meat (notice that alliteration?)
George Berkeley said ‘Esse est percipi’ (to be is to be perceived), but today I tell you, ‘Esse est sentire’ (to be is to feel). It is good to have those little emotions; the spurs of happiness, or sadness, or anxiety, or nervousness. All that.
Thence, it makes sense to do things that give us a chance to expend such emotions. So that each and every day, we feel alive. Otherwise, life would be dull. Very dull.
It is for that reason, then, that I am encouraging people to hope. Hope for the best in the year 2024. Set your New Year goals. What is it that you want this coming year? Get a job? Do your master's? Buy a car? Have a weekly column in the daily newspaper (this is mine)? Wish it all.
Even though it is near impossible, it is good to dream. Dream of all those things you can achieve. Build castles in the air. Your brain will release the serotonin hormone – the feel-good hormone. Even if that happiness is momentary and fleeting, I still believe it’s a good thing. To smile for just those few minutes, as you think about how good things could turn out.
It’s good to be optimistic. An optimistic person looks forward to things. They are generally happy, and you can see it, even when they tell you about their plans. For those who’ve had a great 2023, it’s easier to look forward to 2024 and pray that it be better, seeing that you’re already on course. For those who haven’t had an easier time, I do understand it’s a bit harder, but I still encourage you to hope.
Don’t hit me with that Nietzsche quote that says, “Hope, in reality, is the worst of all evil, for it prolongs the torment of man.” I know. But chase that torment nonetheless. Let it be your wake-up call.
Don’t allow yourself to be a slouch this year. In the book Essays of Theodicy on the Goodness of God, The Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil, German Philosopher Gottlieb Leibniz said this is ‘the best of all possible worlds’, Therefore, if you’re a mere passer-by in this best world, then what do you think you’d be in the other alternate universes?
In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche encourages us to rise above ourselves and become the Ubermensch (Superman/Overman). This overman is someone who establishes their own values, independent of others.
This is a person who has a life which is not merely to live each and every day with no meaning, but a person who lives his life with values that have a huge influence.
With that, then, remember to hope for the best and expect the best. Rise above and become an Ubermensch. I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2024!