Why?

Why am I here? What's the point? No matter who you are, or where you're from, you've asked these questions at least once in your life. This is existentialism, and most people don't even realise they are swimming in its vast waters. Existentialism is defined as a philosophical theory or approach which emphasises the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. Simplified: there is no universal truth - and it's up to us as individuals to create meaning in our lives. Nihilism is an extension of this, and is defined as the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. Simplified: nobody's got it figured out, so what's the point?

There is a question that has been trapped with me in my mind for a while now. Why? Why do people live? Why do people die? Why do we waste the paradoxical blessing of sentient consciousness on trivial matters such as who likes who and what brand of clothing we wear? Why do we project human concepts on to omnipotent deities and then make them idols which define the way to live? Why do have jobs? Why do we have roads? Governments? Drugs? Alcohol? War? Famine? Rape? Why?

For a while I was buried underneath this simple, and yet unfathomably complicated question. There's an entire universe begging this question - how can one simply carry on with the dull existence of everyday life when we don't even know why? And then lying in bed one Sunday night, the answer came crashing down, and with it the burden of what seemed like a question I was asking for the entire world. I laughed at the beautiful simplicity of it... Relativism.
Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity within themselves, but rather only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration. I will simplify this concept with an example. Look at R10 - if you have R12, then R10 can be considered a lot of money. But if you have R12 000 000, then R10 isn't quite as much.

It's a question we'll never definitively be able to answer because of one simple reason. Where does your entire life take place? Your entire life takes place in your mind - all you have is a subjective impression of an arguably objective reality. That wall isn't just a wall, it's your impression of the wall. Left and right aren't directions, they're perspectives. Right and wrong aren't absolutes, they're conversations.

The question why cannot be definitively answered because there is no definitive answer. Each person in this world sees it differently and sees their own reason for being in it. At the end of the day all you have is what you believe. If you believe in something, then who can tell you differently? There is power in the faith of existence and not necessarily existence itself. Therefore, I urge you to find what you believe. Find your reality. Find your why.