"Does There Have To Be A Reason For Everything?" or "Yes, Yes There Does"

[Seil]

I like sunflowers. I do. They're not my flower, but they're big and colorful and smell nice and junk. I was thinking that 'I like flowers. What do flowers do? Flowers are pretty, they smell nice, they..." And that's where I got lost. I thought of my loves - liquor literally hurts me. Women do too, but usually with secondary things like mace.

I've long held that everything happens for a reason, a belief that I sometimes can't always justify because the reason isn't always immediately obvious. (And because I'm me, I always try to put a positive spin on it.) The idea though, that everything happens for a reason, can be worded differently, to the extent that there is a reason for everything. If we look at it like that, we can see the beauty in everything. I - quite serious here, chaps -- and chappettes -- don't want to start a whole mind numbing thread where people discuss the reasoning behind coffee tables, because it's self evident.

We could talk about fires and floods and crime and warfare and all those horrible things, but why not talk about nice things first? I mean, we could discuss a sunset - the reasoning behind something of infinite and majestic beauty is that the Earth keeps turning. We could talk about how a flower smells nice - I think the reasoning is to attract bugs for pollination? We could talk about how wind feels, and that's just air pressure or whatever!

The point that I'm trying to make is that the most wonderful and beautiful and majestic things - that we can be touched by a loved one, or that we can watch a fire burn, or that we can hear the song of a bird, or whatever - those things are natural. There's a reason behind them. It's what's been happening for thousands of years. And we've chosen to see the beauty in that.

"We can complain the fact that rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice the fact that thorn bushes have roses."

Inspired by: John Butler Trio - One Way Road

[Seil]

A study on happiness.

[Marc v4.0]

Originally Posted by Seil

[color=pink]liquor literally hurts me. Women do too, but usually with secondary things like mace.

Never change <3

[Nique]

(And because I'm me, I always try to put a positive spin on it.)

There is truly an opportunity in everything, even failures, and that is a really healthy way to look at life.

I'm confused by the phrase 'a reason for everything' in the same way that phrases like 'true love' confuse me. Or maybe it doesn't confuse me so much as I think that these ideas are misunderstood. For instance, 'True love' isn't a magical force that drives us towards one special person, it's a choice people make to put effort into a relationship.

'Everything happens for a reason' could be a nice sentiment but it's a bit of a misnomer unless you're talking about God or something like God - and even his autobiography has some things to say about him not directing every little step of existence. It's more like what I said earlier - meaning can be found in events or circumstances but that doesn't mean that the event had any intent or driving force behind it to put you in whatever the situation may be.

On the other hand, it seems to me that it is much more difficult to maintain a positive outlook if you don't perceive the world through the more flowery and magical versions of those ideas. This may be a little whiny for general but I've been struggling to find the substance in anything recently, or maybe it's more of a general disillusionment with my surroundings. Cue rant about society I guess?

[TDK]

Everything does not happen for a reason (well, other than cause and effect). Everything is utterly meaningless and random.

But that in no way means you shouldn't see the beauty in things, and in fact makes everything all the more beautiful for it.


(I call this philosophy Opti-Nihilism.)

[Grimpond]

ehh, sunflowers are kinda fugly to me.