The love story of the century

The other day I saw a video called "What if money doesn't matter?" and I started asking myself why I do the things I do. Frankly speaking: why do I get up early in the morning (when I don't want to) to attend classes (which I complain about) for study (of things that are sometimes really boring) and then go to sleep, and then do it all over again.

I was sitting on the bed, wide awake, staring into the blackest darkness, listening to the sound of Range Rover and Land Cruiser skidding on the asphalt outside my window. And I returned again to the inevitable question. The answer I have skillfully eluded in the last two years: why am I here? I had opened Pandora's box. I was suddenly in a dark room where my questions had taken on a life of their own and danced on the walls of my imagination. Questions that I never gave an answer to and that everyone expects me to know: what are you doing here? What do you want to do with your life? How will you get there? What are your future plans? Why should we hire you?

Scary questions.

I answered my questions with another question: what if money doesn't matter?

We have been programmed to focus on wealth. I don't know how many times, and I probably committed a sin, I told myself: "I want to work and make money so that I can live in that kind of house. Buy those shoes. Buy that bag. Wear those jewels".
Our whole existence is consumed by observing materialism and participating in it. We find a job, we go to work to make money, to buy the things we think will make us happier.

But can we really live without Balenciagas and Birkins? Yes, we can. So I come back again to my question: what if money doesn't matter?
If money didn't matter, I would travel the world, take photographs, become a photojournalist and meet people. All kinds of people. I have an insatiable curiosity to meet other people: what makes them so, what makes them happy, Why do people think what they think? Why do you do what you do?
So, really, the real question is not "what if money doesn't matter".

The real question is "what if we don't do things for the money, but rather, do them for ourselves?"

Now, I do not mean "for ourselves" in a selfish way. Instead, by pursuing only the passions that interest us, in an extremely selfish way we would contribute to society in the most selfless way possible. Being extremely selfish, one becomes selfless.

You see, this is the right question we must ask ourselves, and not looking for the work that will provide us with the highest possible financial reward regardless of the suffering that would create us on a daily basis.

It is said that when we are children, we are the purest form of ourselves. We are the most creative form of ourselves, we say what we think without fear of retaliation or judgment. Then we go to school and start the process of inculcating ourselves how to optimize our belonging to this society and serve a greater purpose established by others. But what is this greater purpose? It is not a noble quest for sustainability or a common good that will benefit everyone in the end. It is the tireless search for money to buy new things, to show new things, or simply to get to the end of the day.

Now, I am not saying to become a bohemian or an anarchist or participate in an anti-establishment movement. Find your niche in society. Not your place in terms of social stratification, but your place in terms of where you can best contribute to society with your skills. The difference between following others in society and finding a niche is that a niche is one that one creates for oneself, that shapes it like clay at will with all your dreams and aspirations.

We forget the things that make us happy and we settle for the things we think make us happy. Our dreams are hidden in the back of the closet like works of art made when we were 5 years old. We attend school, learning the skills to be able to work out there in that 'real world'.

But why should we give up our dreams in the meantime?

This is the terrible tragedy. We forget our dreams and give up our aspirations in order to achieve what others think we should have. We are happy with what we have, we are not happy with what we have. Then, when we see someone who is following their dreams, who is happy in their quest, we applaud them and wish them the best. Why don't we do the same?
Our world is full of examples of people who have revolutionized the world. Walt Disney, Einstein, Verdi, Van Gogh. Just to name a few. What do a cartoonist, a scientist, a musician and an artist have in common? They followed their passions and realized their dreams against all odds. By pursuing their passions, they have created meaning in their lives and found their niche in society. By realizing themselves, they have realized society. They do not only focus on money. Van Gogh died poor and only sold one painting in his entire life to his brother. But now we look at the museums and exhibitions erected to celebrate his genius. Not focusing on money and following his dreams, each of these individuals received the right amount of money to live in the world, but more importantly, he realized his dream and created a sense of purpose for himself that money would never be able to provide.

I want you to think for a minute now and think about what you might do if you weren't here. And with the image in mind of what you could do if you could, I would like you to think about what you would have to do to get it. Think about the little things you can do every day to get closer to that dream or the lifestyle you need to make your life better and ultimately improve yourself. Perhaps you disagree with my interpretation of how things should be. But that's okay. What is important to me and to you is that you do the things that make you happy. Now my question is, what is stopping you?

I hope you go where you need to go and think about who you could become by doing it and that you do it. Do what you like and intertwine the love story of the century with your passions. Go out and really think about where you want your life to go. Life goes by in the blink of an eye and it's time to really start living it by finding our purpose and not just surviving. As someone said: "the purpose, then, is the hunger that you and I have to transform ourselves, not just to give us a sense of euphoria, gratification or pleasure, but to bring us closer to completion, fulfillment, the whole, not just the appetite for possession of things, but the hunger to be possessed by a sense of meaning.

Fate then, will no longer be something that happens to us, but something we create.

 

Gabriella Zoia
Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service - Georgetown University in Qatar