human condition

The Call

Rusty Alderson
2 min readAug 9, 2022
Photo by Jason Hogan on Unsplash

The “human condition” has been a topic for philosophers, poets, and artists ever since the first caveman started drawing on his cave wall. Early cave drawings indicate that cavemen were curious about their world and their life experiences. People throughout the ages have grappled with the paradox of living a finite existence while feeling the tug of an infinite soul within.

One of the burning questions mankind has grappled with since the beginning of time is, “Who am I?” coupled with, “What am I doing here?” These two questions have led people to believe that the answers are “out there” and we need to discover them. There must be a “secret to life,” and we are consumed with trying to find it.

Is there anything more to life than just the treadmill struggle to survive? Why do we struggle?

“Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers… Live the questions now.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

As technological advancement expands our possibilities, it seems to demand that we fill every waking hour with some productive enterprise — finding a balance between a fruitful participation in society, and enjoying the innate pleasures of nature, personal relationships, and…

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Rusty Alderson
Rusty Alderson

Written by Rusty Alderson

Retired technologist — eschewing cubicles; habitual observer; perpetual student; philosopher; poet; essayist; advocate for nature and wilderness.

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