How to live?

 "How to live?"

Jean Giono, who was Camus's mentor. If Camus's writing is like the sunlight pouring down on top of your head on a midsummer noon, then Jean Giono's writing is like the slanted sunlight of the evening sunset, a phrase that resonates with me. In "The Inspiration of the Mediterranean," Giono's writing presents various shades of thoughts, like the shadows cast by the slanted sunlight.

Light draws lines between objects as if it were poetry, but night makes us realize that we are one. We have been too indoctrinated by the aesthetics of distinction.

"A deserted island without people doesn't ask me any questions. But the city asks me too many questions. Ironically, we feel even lonelier when we are with living things. Even though we are connected as one."

That's why people, when promoted, end up raising lots of plants that cannot speak in too large solitary rooms... Because they are too lonely...

The most concerning thing in our lives is that while we should be concerned about these things, we end up learning the most useless things and hearing news that has nothing to do with us. Francisco Borja was a faithful servant of King Charles V in the 16th century. When the queen died, during the procession to Granada with the corpse, he happened to see the condition of the corpse and was shocked, saying, "No. If I am to lose my master through death, I will serve him no longer."

When the merchants asked Don Quixote to show them Dulcinea, whom he introduced as the most beautiful woman in the world, there is a scene where he says, "If I were to show her to you, what good would it do for you to confess the obvious truth? The important thing is that even without seeing her, you must believe in her, confess to her, acknowledge her, swear to her, and protect her."

We live as if we will live forever, but apart from our hearts, everything else is taken away and returned. The difference between a rich person who has become a corpse and a poor person is only a matter of taste from the perspective of maggots. Do you understand that you have to die to know the transience of life and that all we can truly possess is our heart, our honor, and our memories...

So Jean Giono recommends a very ordinary epitaph for us.

"He is finally here." "This is your share of the land."

Why did we choose loneliness?