The existence precedes essence. The trinket case first or trinket first is the confrontation which one faces everywhere. If one has the trinket case first, which he can only afford, he may or may not have trinket later depending on improvement in his financial strength. But the love and dedication in the process of acquiring the trinket with or without the hope that he may have a trinket in future, is the present, in which he is living and he has a choice to enjoy. It may sound absurd, but the love and dedication in having what you can have in the present is most important at the present.
Philosophers argued over whether the jewellery or the box should come first, but one should know the answer. The answer is a mix of aspiration, intelligence, planning, emotion, patience, love, and gratitude.
To acquire a trinket case without having trinket is not a mistake, according to me. It has a purpose built into its being. The earrings are destined to find their home in the trinket case in future, if you have the case now.
If you build a nest in your backyard, a bird will come to live there one day. We often judge our actions by the immediate results they produce, dismissing anything that seems purposeless at the moment. But life is not a ledger to be balanced instantly. Meaning ripens slowly, often in ways we cannot foresee.
That little trinket case—once bought without reason by you—will wait patiently for its purpose to arrive. Years later, it may become the protective cover of the earrings, a quiet witness to your journey from struggle to victory.
Existentialism, is not just a lofty philosophy; it is lived in such small, seemingly random acts that gather meaning over time. We build the nest—sometimes without knowing why…and life, sooner or later, brings the bird. It may be a far cry now between the nest and the bird. There may not be any meaning now in building a nest, when no bird is there. But the process of building it has a purpose, passion, inspiration and hope. This process is more enjoyable at the present, whether bird comes or not in future. The journey is more important than the destination, although people may laugh at you at present, when you build a nest without seeing a bird or you buy a trinket case without having a trinket.
A Life without ultimate meaning is worth living. As no life can have ultimate meaning. The pleasure of the life is inseparable from the process of living it. Death is inevitable and it provides meaning to life. One lives the existence from one moment to the next, going closer to death. Living the life is rejection of death and rejection of the despair and strain of life, although death is hidden and potent in every moment. The life’s struggle is enough to take a man to next step.
In my case, building a library or a museum or a temple, is a process for me to avoid despair and strains of life which otherwise will engulf me. Thinking now about whether these initiatives succeed or fail in future or sees the purpose inherent in it, is absurd for me at present. The process of taking these troubled and difficult initiatives has a love, anxiety, sincerity and dedication without any hope of return to me. Not even fame. If anyone praises me that I am the architect of the initiatives, I feel embarrassed. I do it, for my selfish purpose to purify my soul and to avoid despair, although such activity has an inbuilt purpose. Whether these initiatives meet the ultimate purpose doesn’t bother me. In the long run, nothing exists. If one aspires for permanent existence of any purpose, one is bound to have despair, as one is committing an act against the laws of nature. The ultimate purpose of the arduous process of taking these initiatives is absurd. But the present purpose for me is to enjoy the struggle from one moment to the other, without aspiring for the essence of it. For me the existence precedes the essence and ultimate purpose.
Written and Curated by P. K. Dash