Sunday, October 30, 2005

La Vida es la Lucha

This Spanish phrase means "the struggle is life." I heard that for the first time about one year ago, and at first I took issue with it. If life is struggle, then when is there rest? If life is fight, then where is there peace?

But the more I think about it, the more I like this phrase. There is peace and rest in struggle. Struggle indicates motion, whether it takes the form of passive resistance, full on force, or refusal to give up. The Zapatista movement says that the struggle is the destination, a philosophy that indicates that once we have resolved to resist and to attempt to make our lives better, we have reached a good place to live. Regardless of whether we accomplish that for which we are struggling, we have resolved to move. And that is our peace, that we persevere for something greater.

3 comments:

Tmproff said...

I'm sure you have heard me talk about SCUBA diving. Well when you dive in the Carribean, there is always a current. Even with powerful legs and high tech fins, It's very difficult to swim against it. As a novice, you want to stop and look at everything (which is difficult in a current). Only later do you learn to relax and enjoy where it takes you

I learned to take in the entire picture instead of trying so hard to focus on one thing. The current taught me that.

APN said...

Or to co-opt an oft-quoted concept from biology that I love, "Whenever a tree/plant stops growing, it starts dying."

The struggle will ALWAYS be life.

LKH said...

we all need to be reminded to move...