That’s three questions, Ben! I think.

Through the ages, most of humanity has not had the luxury to ponder these questions. Physical survival was all in all.

There was danger and fear, so we invented totems and gods. For invocations and bribes. Protect us please kinda thing. Almighty nature dictated existence. Thunder, lightning, famine, night. We wanted to live forever. Afterlife became ritualized. (In that, Pharaonic belief system and islam are quite similar; earn merit in mortal life to prepare for an immortal afterlife.)We moved to institutionalized religion.

As we moved up the hierarchy of needs, we had plenty of time for navel-gazing. Science of course, did away with many ‘fictions.’

I believe we have come full circle. Except our totems and mythologies we realize, offer no protection. There is fear, danger, suffering beyond belief. DESPAIR. Loneliness.

I me mine culture has left us unhinged and lost. Giant egos and very little else. So navel-gazing simply doesn’t cut it. I fear my comment could turn into a diatribe on consciousness, the quest for self-actualization. So i will desist!

Who am i, what am i, WHY am i? At this point in my minuscule life, i don’t care to know. I just am.

A self-made moral compass, hopefully, propelled by love for all life.

Each moment counts. There is nothing else. I love the planet from whose womb all of life and i emerged. To it i shall return.

Its been an extraordinary yet ordinary experience.

Have a brilliant life. Be safe.