The Peace Game
Pretty much everyone would say they want peace, but it doesn't seem most people define it beyond an intuitive feeling. As a result, it’s easy to think attaining peace is simply having a lack of tension in one’s life. Though this is a good general attitude towards peace, I don't think this is how peace should be defined. Also, I don’t believe this is how peace can be achieved. This is because seeking a tensionless state makes us prone to mistaking comfort for peace. Comfort and peace are vastly different paths though.
It's been said that desire is a contract one makes with themselves to be happy until they get what they want. And since our biological nature demands food, protection (i.e. shelter), and procreation, desire is inherently part of us on some level. And though there are outliers (e.g. those with anorexia and those that are celibate), it's clear that these three things are absolute necessities for life to continue. Therefore, it's safe to say that desire has to be good in some way. But, if desire must play a role, is it possible to achieve a tensionless state of existence? If a tensionless state is not possible for biological beings, can we have peace?
Because of the dilemma of tension, I would say that the definition of peace is not a tensionless state, but the state of knowing and determining what one desires. It’s about allowing and giving ourselves desires to achieve our own end. Peace, therefore, can only be attained with intent and clarity of what one wants. As a result, it also looks to exclude and eliminate the things that don't add or contribute.
Peace, then, can only be achieved by giving oneself purpose. This takes exercising freewill and self-discipline to accomplish it. There seems to be even more of a catch though. The first is that we may not desire the means to achieve the ends. Eg. I don’t desire to brush my teeth, but I desire to be healthy, so I must do the undesirable. A second is something the writer David Foster Wallace put succinctly in his popular “This Is Water” commencement speech. When he said, if you “worship your body and beauty and sexual allure… you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you”, he was identifying that there are rules to what one can desire if peace is the goal. Some philosophers might call these things eternals or ideals. A religious person would say this is God. Basically though, they are things that will always be worth pursuing. This has further implications too, because, for them to be eternally good, they must be seen as being able to add value to humanity.
More complexities arise at this point due to the fact that we are social animals. This means that we naturally rely on others to get what we desire. It's at this point the Peace Game starts. This is something I hope to address in another post though. Also, it’s not lost on me that I’m talking about a peace/desire dilemma in the midst of showcasing my work that revolves around nudity. I also plan on addressing this in a future post as well.
Also, calling this post "The Peace Game" just made me want to call it "The Peace Train" after the Cat Stevens song “Peace Train”. I wanted to because it rhymed and I like the song. Since I didn't, here's a link to the jam instead.
