“Waiting Cold” addresses how ideologies affect the way we live our lives. How do ideals sometimes block what is observable? How do others try to understand the world, and how does that differ from our own attempts? If we hold common ground regardless of the individual principles held, would we be able to recognize it?
The thesis of the following piece is that the eternal return of difference is the onto-ethicality of humanity. The idea of eternal return has emerged in various religions and societies throughout time — namely, the theory argues the universe goes through repeating stages of transformation in an infinite cycle. Though this idea of cyclical time lost traction with the rise of Christianity, Nietzsche reintroduced the concept, which became fundamental to his work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In presenting the idea of eternal recurrence, Nietzsche tasks us with the dilemma: what would we do if this were true? Rather than wallowing in despair at the fear of having to endlessly relive the tragic human condition, Nietzsche encourages us to embrace eternal recurrence — as this, he argues, is the ultimate expression of love for life and for life on Earth. However, the author of this piece argues all theory and conceptualization of the eternal return (even Nietzsche’s) takes a backseat to the “highest feeling” of the eternal return.
If desire is the backbone of human nature and desire often leads to loss, how can we break the psychological cycle of failure while simultaneously finding meaning in a meaningless world? The following collection of haikus remind us of our innate human drive and the traps we fall into, repeating them mindlessly over time.
If ‘good’ is what causes pleasure and ‘evil’ is what causes pain, is death evil? Or, do we live in a universe where what happens to is indifferent and only how we relate to it is good or bad? Is death a transformative experience or the cessation of life and consciousness?
