To whom it may concern,
I suppose there comes a time in every person’s life when they reflect upon their life and question why. What was the purpose? For me, it was after serving two decades in jails and prisons. Now, I suppose one might say, duh, of course a person who, for all appearances, wasted their life locked in a cage would question the purpose and the why of said life. However, I submit all people eventually face the question of life.
For me, I believe the purpose was the actual adventure of life itself, as experienced through our feelings, our senses, our emotions, our thoughts, our memories, and our subjective personal interpretations of them all. The times we laugh, the times we cry, the times we are overcome by desire, the times we regret giving in to those desires, the times we allow our passions and emotions to dictate our thoughts, our words, and our actions, all of which are scrutinized and judged by our fellow man as well as our Creator, be it God or the universal consciousness.
In the twilight of our lives, be it a life of brevity or longevity, our souls rejoice for having been given the opportunity to separate itself from the collective whole, to experience individuality, to see itself as different and unique, to experience fear and pain and loneliness, despair, hopelessness, regret, sorrow, and hate, to experience joy, love, and happiness, elation, to experience ecstasy—the state of being beyond reason and self-control, a state of overwhelming emotion.
Ecstasy may be applied to any strong emotion, such as fear, joy, rage, etc. Ecstasy may be induced by physical stimulation, such as pain or pleasure, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, and also by mental stimulation, such as thoughts and beliefs. Our souls remember the feelings and emotions and are thankful for them. As for the memories of the individual life lived, that is another story.
So what was my purpose, my why? Why, I lived an adventure. Even in the times I was in solitary confinement, locked in a box, it was still an adventure. Even the times I experienced pain and suffering, it was still part of the adventure. It wasn’t my adventure, as this life is one of many, but the adventure embarked upon by my soul. I was just its vehicle in this life, and although I have many regrets, I know my soul enjoyed this adventure—so maybe I was a better captain than I thought.