Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
I knew a woman whose name was Lahanna, and she referred to
her home as Lala land. She meant that in
a good way, and I liked that. In fact,
her home was blissfully happy. Despite
the grizzly bear warning signs posted all over the ‘hood, she went running
through the forest, naked, at sunrise, fearlessly. Although the neighbors weren’t in the forest
themselves at this hour, on account of the grizzly bears and all, they thought
she would surely perish.
We live in an age where we are encouraged to accept only the
most rigid empirical data. If we can’t
see it, weigh it, taste it, smell it, then clearly it isn’t there. While I’m not advocating that we should call
an apple an orange, or a grizzly bear a kitten, I do think we can broaden our
perceptions. Our philosophy need not be
based on the strictly empirical. As
Shakespeare’s Hamlet said, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,Than
are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
And so it is with this little boy, adrift on a lifeboat, after
the cargo ship he has been travelling in sinks.
The brutality of the days on the lifeboat must be endured, somehow. It is how this boy reframes his world that
allows him to go on.
Philosophy and religion are choices we make. If you believe life is horrible and to be
endured, then you might ask how that belief system is working for you. If your religion teaches that joy and pleasure
are sinful, you might also ask what the hell it is you’re trying to accomplish
by believing that.
Take a look at this extraordinary novel, and see if it doesn’t
influence you to shift some of your thinking to be a little more advantageous
to you.
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