The River of Life

The following is a creative thinking exercise, not an exact or complete representation of how I view life.

Life is like a river. We're trapped in its current, drifting towards death. No matter how we struggle, no matter how much we object, the river will eventually deliver us to our end.

We're being carried, or compelled, downstream by more than just the waters of time. The moment we were born we were in possession of both common and unique traits. These were the best traits of our ancestors; the ones that kept them alive, drew them to a mate, and successfully reared children. But they were traits that cared little for culture and custom. The moment we entered the stream of life, we had to contend with more than simple mortality, we faced a lifelong struggle against our genetic programming.

Just like we didn't choose our genes, we didn't choose our parents and family, our hometown, our initial economic status, the schools we attended, and the friends we made. Our genes and our environment made us who we are. We believe like our parents, act like our brothers, and think like our friends. We feel like our ancestors.

Our genetic and environmental programming relentlessly, cruelly, push us down stream, along a preordained, highly predictable path. Its all we can do to keep our heads above water, let alone steer an enlightened, free course through life.

Finally, we share space in the river with everyone else. Some are closer to us than others-we call the closest our friends and lovers. Together we combine our strength and succeed in changing our course somewhat. But we can't help but bump into countless other people in life, inadvertently altering our course and making it even more difficult to act of our own free will or get what we want.

Since we can only dream of stepping out of the river, can we at least hope to find some shelter from the current? Or can we become so strong that we swim through the water like fish?

What do we do to rebel against our own programming? To challenge our own upbringing? To capture moments that seem out of time and free from persuasion?

We've never been more aware of our predicament in the river of life. We've never been so powerful and free.