Is it really a "wonderful world"?

Is toxicity real? I certainly think so. Humans have infinite capacity for evil, so, the possibility of an unhealthy relationship characterized by mutual despair over benefit is a real one.

I recently listened to Louis Armstrong’s song--“What a wonderful world” And I think to myself- what an interesting song. Can the world really be beautiful? Well, I suppose so. I suppose it can be beautiful. When the beauty of it is well earned.

If however, if one does not earn the beauty, they may not experience it. The very same world of beauty to one may be a dull world to a mind that does not provide itself with the experience of beauty. And this is not to claim by the way, that one’s actions are unrelated to one’s mental state, or to downplay the responsibility one has to tend to their own body, mind, and life.

But I have often heard of the biological component that is associated with such dullness, and how the chemistry of one’s brain affects one’s mood.

For some reason, I sometimes find it surprising that the world existed before I was born. Seems like something the protagonist of a novel centered around an arrogant main character would say. Remembering the existence of humanity for tens of thousands of years, and realizing that the Romans experienced the same human emotions of love, fear, jealousy, sadness, and anger over twenty centuries ago can palliate any existential fear about humanity. But for myself--is there a guarantee about my future? There are plenty enough life stories. Humans have collectively traversed nearly every type of stage of life from a fundamental perspective. Sure, there may not be many other CS ‘24 majors in the world who are struggling in chemistry class, but the trajectory of human emotion remains the same. There have been people in the past who have become sad in the midst of struggle, failure, and ignoble procrastination--nearly everyone actually. More specifically, a sizable proportion of people are faced with tensions with their immediate family--just look at any couple going through a divorce.

And yet, we have to live it out. I sometimes remember my high school friends, and think about at the end of each of their lives, what would they have done that no one else has done? And that leads me to think that the value and contribution of life is not in doing something new at a fundamental level. Straying too far from the rest in terms of one’s behavior, patterns of thoughts, and norms. Perhaps the contribution that we can bring is merely to live a tame and disciplined life. Just making it through while putting in effort, and hopefully bringing something new to humanity is enough for a good life. Just a thought.