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by aronowb14 1539 days ago
I wrote this back when I was 18, in response to the question “what kind of life do you want to live?” but I always come back to it. Something about it still resonates with me.

“What kind of life do you want to live?”

“A life full of color. I couldnt bear to have a boring life: I want my days to be full of joy and pain and laughter and success and failure and broken hearts and love. To be honest I don’t care where I end up, I just want to look back and smile at a life I painted with all the colors I could find.”

5 comments

Add something about finding your partner in crime and you have every dating profile ever.
Surely you didn't have to pay the rent and insurances back then.
My past idea of happiness assumed that happiness was a default emotion that would always be available, as long as your worked hard enough for it. As I got older, less and less things give me emotional response. Even love and heartbreak are patterns I recognize and don't give the rush they used to. For me it simply comes down to, 'help the next generation live in a better world' Take away the self, it's already experienced everything it needs to.
This touched my heart.
How has that worked out for you?
honestly, not too bad :). I don't really use it as a "follow this as a guiding design pattern" piece of advice, but I think the philosophy is really useful when dealing with relationships with people, and taking risks in life. Over the past years, thinking "how will I aestheticize my life" has led me to some really interesting + fulfilling relationships and let me experience a lot of life. Sure, I have gotten burnt quite a few times, but in hindsight I regret nothing. I think the pain and joy and people I've met from just putting myself out there have given me a lot of perspective on life.

That being said, I'm getting to the age where I think I'm ready to settle down a bit: this philosophy I think is most useful if you're young or lost and also don't have much responsibility.