Living, first hand

I have come to realise of late that there are three ways to live life: first hand, second hand, and third hand.

First-hand life is the one where you make your own choices, inform and reason them. You take full responsibility, and also full enjoyment for it. And, amazingly enough, it is not the most common style, but the least. At the summit, the pyramid is sparsely populated. Among first-hand-life examples we encounter people who are genii or fools, but invariably outside the norm and oftentimes widely (and wildly) admired: Buddha, Einstein, Elizabeth I, Mozart, Hitler... Yes, they can be wonderful people, or monsters, but they live on their own terms.

Second-hand life is the one where you live life through, often unconscious, imitation and admiration of others. It is a "repeated" life, in a way. You still take responsibility, but it is all partial. It is the kind of life one would have when dedicated to please others, maybe parents or friends, so they feel comfortable with you, so they take pride in you. You might live a little "unconventionally" and turn to the hippy, bohemian, voluntary, whatever life. But still, your life is heavily dependent on society as a whole, and your circle as a part.

Finally, third-hand life is the one where you simply try to be like someone else, at times fully aware of it. It became most obvious in the fan phenomenon, where the followers copied the styles / speech /... of their idols. Imagine the fashions after Elvis or the Beetles,  to present a clear example. I understand it, as it shows an aspiration to living first-hand (the idols). That tendency has grown now, however, and it has become more widespread and (I admit it, I am elitist in this respect) horribly worrisome. The trend will nowadays also create idols out of "celebs" of little import and usually less enlightening value; or of the lifestyles of famous people, so the admiration is shifted to the (often) mindless waste of some rich characters, away from the achievements of those in the humane areas.

How you live your life will determine the world you leave behind.