To Be Or No To Be? - Now That's A Question!

'To be, or not to be: That is the question.' - Hamlet - William Shakespeare.

This simple little phrase from Hamlet's opening soliloquy started running through my head this morning as I stood still half asleep in the shower. Funny what your mind mulls over when it's not quite awake and yet not quite asleep, but there is was being repeated over and over again, including the next couple of lines from the text, how my brain managed to find them in all the detritus that lives inside my head is a thing of wonder indeed.


But thinking about it: 'To be, or not to be'. what does it mean? As an English Literature student somewhere in my dim and distant past I remember hearing this phrase quoted over and over again by teachers and lecturers but I never really gave much thought to it. Now though it seems to pose a really interesting question of which way we chose to live our life, those six little words open up a world of possibilities.


I interpreted the question in the following way: What does 'To be' mean? To me it means choosing to live in the present, in the moment. To be aware not only of the world around you but also of yourself, who you are and how you interact with and influence the people and situations around you. To be concious of not only your thoughts and feelings but also those of others. To truly experience life.


To select to 'not be' would to live your life oblivious to the needs, desires, hopes and dreams of yourself and the rest of the world. To live a life of ignorance, devoid of all of the joy that being both socially and self aware can bring into life. To never see and appreciate the subtleties that nature shows to those who chose to see, never being able to 'read between the lines' to discover hidden meanings and truths. 


I choose to live in the light, 'to be' to use all of my senses to their utmost, to appreciate what life or fate places in my path and learn from it. This is how we grow, as a person and as a society, and lets face it, right now, society needs all of the help it can get.