Through Pain to the Stars

Per Dolorem Ad Astra. Through Pain, to the Stars. I worry that such a title will ring as arrogant to any potential passer-bys who somehow happened upon this personal experiment in (hopefully) creative writing. I admit, at first glance, it does seem somehow self-congratulatory, unnecessarily triumphant to stake a claim in the blogosphere with a Latin phrase for a title. But in my defense, I chose it because of it's beauty and meaning on a broader scale than my measly musings. The title is not meant to refer to any struggle of mine, but as a motto for the struggle of life. Not just human life, either, but organic life in general. That is, the resulting complexity that has arisen after billions of years of 'selfish replicators' making imperfect and competing copies of themselves. From such simple beginnings, this complexity has since brought into existence consciousness that looks out into the universe it finds itself in, emotion that allows it to be angered, delighted, saddened, or awed at what it does see, and inevitably, suffering as well. It is this reality (which we have just recently gained the ability to reflect upon) that fascinates and humbles me more than anything else. It is my aspiration only to write on this theme in my own sophomoric way. It is only my hope to record the sense of awe that I feel in response to it. (And perhaps to practice sounding as if I'm not naive.) We'll see where it goes. I have no expectation to garner any kind of readership. Indeed, I might be too self conscious to write if I knew anyone other than the select few people I've shared the URL with were reading this. Maybe I'll make a few posts only to see the futility of trying to write anything remotely meaningful on a regular basis. Whatever the case, at least I've finally made the first post.