One Life for Life
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I questioned myself and world all my life. Trying to understand, I studied both economics and philosophy in Tuebingen, Germany. I learned about human interaction, but still struggled to understand myself, being and world.
In what followed, I made a hedonistic turn, and chose to have a good time without questioning too much. I went on to pursue a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence, and worked a few years as professor in Economics in Mexico City.
However, the questioning never truly stopped. Why are we conscious and not unconscious beings? Why do we have notions of beautiful and good? What defines those notions for each of us? What defines any thing? What defines me/us?
Far from understanding completely, I feel that my path of thought and life has shown me some truths. Most importantly, I think that what defines us is not the individual names, the race, gender, or nationality. Nor that we are human (itself simply a name given to our species) or even our consciousness - we often act unconsciously and that does not make us something entirely different. Yet, a being that is not alive, is different. We can still value and commemorate it, but it is no longer us. That conclusion implies that, reversely, everything that is life must be treated as us. Be it plant, animal, or human.
That made me struggle with my profession as we teach efficient exploitation – of our own abilities, resources, people, non-human life. I work actively on a book on the market, and to disseminate information on the problem of markets for the ecological system – the world. But I could not continue as specialized professor at university and teach things I do not believe any longer.
I stopped work as university professor. I started to truly think again. About being, life, worlds. I converted a truck into a home by myself – to live in remote areas and to make use of some capabilities I had never used in my past life. I try to think, see, speak, and paint as truthfully as I can. I try to not consume anything but the necessary for this goal. Find a road to sustainability. Explain the consumption trap to people and how it destroys life.
The truth demands me to try show said truth to other people using all my capabilities. My thoughts speaking through my words in my writings. My photography. My paintings. I have often been sheltered for the sadness in my paintings. I would love to paint a brighter world. But I cannot. I may not lie. I must paint what I see and understand. I owe that to the plants and trees, the animals and future generations – both human and non-human. All threatened by current human onslaught. All completely innocent.
With a purchase of a painting or print, you support my work as an artist, philosopher, scholar. You help me try to devote my life to life. To all living things, small or grand. To not focus on my Ego, my individual life and survival. I am but one in eight billion of but one in eight million species that inhabit the planet. I don't matter. Life does. And we shall not destroy it.
Life is so beautiful. One genetic code we all share - plants, animals, humans. It developed into a wonderful myriad of different forms of life over billions of years! There is harmony to it. When I see non-human nature, I do not see a fight for survival of the fittest (as many want to make us believe) but a harmonic symbiosis between species. I try to make people understand that we must not keep on with our current path, unless we want to destroy all beauty, all life, our nature.
Every organism, must be in balance to survive. The energy intake must equal the energy consumption in the long-run – lest the organism dies. If the energy intake exceeds or falls short of its consumption, the organism explodes or starves to death. Sadly, humanity fails to understand and see itself as part of the organism LIFE. Instead, it constantly takes more than it gives and drains it to death.
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