It Goes On

Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel

Icarus, son of Daedalus, escaped the island of Crete through wings made of feathers sealed with wax. Ecstatic perhaps of this gift of flight, he failed to heed his father's warnings and flew too close to the sun - thus his fall. Tragic. But Brueghel's painting is anything, but that. What it is in fact is an image of any given day - a plowman works his land, a ship is set on its course, and the sun , well, it goes on shining - where is Icarus in all these?  If you look just below the ship, you'll see his legs spilling out of the ocean, the rest of his body lost in the green sea. 

A rather subtle picture and yet it paints a striking image of a few of life's truths when it comes to suffering. Some say it shows how we are indifferent to other people's sufferings in the face of our own needs, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. I'd like to believe that one, it shows how suffering is a common lot, taking place anytime, anywhere, with or without an audience, and that two, whether we like it or not, life eventually has to take its natural path and go on. Nothing new there, nothing that people before me haven't been witness to and haven't spoken of already. And yet it seems that this generation has lost its grip on the importance of that truth. We're so fixed on the idea that we are all entitled to something because our lives are like this and like that (insert whatever concern you have at the moment). 

I need not go too far actually for examples, my life for the most part has been about having this general feeling that life should cut me some slack because of the immense suffering it has already thrown at me. But who am I kidding right? We all have our crosses to bear so to speak, why does my suffering have to impose on the lives of other people? What right do I have to hold back the lives of other people, just because I feel that mine is in one huge slump? I admit these questions conflict with my general feeling of entitlement, but the truth stands that my life is mine alone to live and I have to deal with it and go on rather than wait on people to make things better for me or for events to finally turn in my favor.

Going back to Icarus' fall it must have been a spectacular sight to see a boy on man-made wings take flight; but the common folk must go about his task, the traveler must set on his sail and complete his journey, the world go on its natural course , and about life - perhaps the greatest lesson we can learn summed up in simple words - it goes on.