What is a perfect life? Is it achieving a successful job, earning a mountain of riches, or having a happy family? Zhuangzi says we have no way of living a happy and accomplished life if we have a flawed idea of prosperity. Everything we have learned, achieved, dreamed of, and worked for in this life is virtually useless. Our imminent demise will slowly reach out, and one day snatch us away from everything we have ever loved; at face value it sounds absolutely terrifying. However, throughout the book Zhuangzi Speaks, the parables we read reveal to us that the reality of life is death. After actually analyzing and taking his lessons to heart, we are ultimately able to find the way to take comfort in this truth through the teachings of the Dao,
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Living in constant fear of death can hinder our experience of being alive, which can lead to an unfulfilled existence. This immense horror we feel toward our passing is absurd. In response, we try to plan everything out for ourselves and our loved ones; everything is scheduled from dentist appointments to career paths. We set ourselves some sort of path for the future, even though we can never be sure if we 'll even see the next hour of life. In order to get rid of this irrational fear, Zhuangzi suggests that nature is in charge of everything, and due to its unpredictable temperament it would be wiser to let go of one’s fears and anxieties. Nature is in control of us and our fate as explained on page 44, “People have to acknowledge [nature] and adapt… this way, reactions of delight and fear will dissipate…” Again on page 23, Zhuangzi tells us that we should not be scared of something as we do not fully fathom it, “... maybe death will be so great we’ll end up regretting having ever lived.” The poem “Think and Do” by Ron Padgett explains what Zhuangzi claims we have become: busy bodies. We have to be doing something productive toward the future at all times of the day for absolutely no reason. In the poem, Padgett references Rodin’s statue, saying that his life goal was getting muscles just as ours is to get a desk job. Zhuangzi is brought to mind in the line where he writes, “It gives you the idea that he 's worked all his life to get those muscles, and now he has no use for
Living in constant fear of death can hinder our experience of being alive, which can lead to an unfulfilled existence. This immense horror we feel toward our passing is absurd. In response, we try to plan everything out for ourselves and our loved ones; everything is scheduled from dentist appointments to career paths. We set ourselves some sort of path for the future, even though we can never be sure if we 'll even see the next hour of life. In order to get rid of this irrational fear, Zhuangzi suggests that nature is in charge of everything, and due to its unpredictable temperament it would be wiser to let go of one’s fears and anxieties. Nature is in control of us and our fate as explained on page 44, “People have to acknowledge [nature] and adapt… this way, reactions of delight and fear will dissipate…” Again on page 23, Zhuangzi tells us that we should not be scared of something as we do not fully fathom it, “... maybe death will be so great we’ll end up regretting having ever lived.” The poem “Think and Do” by Ron Padgett explains what Zhuangzi claims we have become: busy bodies. We have to be doing something productive toward the future at all times of the day for absolutely no reason. In the poem, Padgett references Rodin’s statue, saying that his life goal was getting muscles just as ours is to get a desk job. Zhuangzi is brought to mind in the line where he writes, “It gives you the idea that he 's worked all his life to get those muscles, and now he has no use for