I recently met a man who I respect very much. He is intelligent and funny and I have enjoyed sharing my joy of artful meaning with him till I came to the conclusion that his source is completely bunked. He once told me that he read a story called “All the Myriad Ways” by Larry Niven. The premise of the story, without giving it away, is that every choice made in the world splits into multiple dimensions. There are a “myriad” or infinite number of dimensions some that are only slightly different from our personal reality and others where the Nazis won the war and so on and so forth. He said he was often comforted by this idea because if he made a poor choice here he knew that in some other universe he made the right one. If he missed a great opportunity in this life there was another “him” somewhere experiencing that.
I tried extremely hard to comprehend this so I could agree and we could share our mutual insights on life. I tried to conceptualize the idea, I even found and read the story. The theory made sense but I just didn’t see it as comforting in any way. In fact it was more disturbing than anything (once you actually read it it becomes even more disturbing). It’s very romantic on the outside but unwrapped it lacks core values that reflect the self in a meaningful way. It’s a cop out, an excuse not to move forward or take risks. “Why should I do it when I know someone else out there will do it for me?”
I was having trouble really expressing my disappointment in the idea when I watched the 2005 film of the play “RENT.” I have always loved that musical, I even saw it on Broadway but watching it again this time gave me a great new perspective on the meaning I was looking for. There is a bit of lyric that is repeated often
“There’s only us
There’s only this
Forget regret or life is yours to miss
No other choice
No other way
No day but today”
There’s only this
Forget regret or life is yours to miss
No other choice
No other way
No day but today”
For those unfamiliar with the play it is about a group of struggling artists living in New York during the AIDS epidemic. The lyric first appears in a support group meeting for people living with AIDS and then keeps popping up throughout the show. It is the antithesis of my friend’s attachment to The Myriad of Ways. This idea really promotes hope and love. Who we are in this moment is all we have. “There is no future, there is no past, I live this moment as my last.”
The truth is we have the ultimate control over our own destiny. We always like to place responsibility for our happiness in outside factors. Crappy bosses, poor relationships, not enough money. The impending disease and death that these characters face has given them the greatest gift of all, the ability to love who they are, what they have and grasp the immediacy of a moment's happiness. Angel is the perfect embodiment of this idea who, while she tragically passes away, she spends every moment living without fear, loving without judgement and earns ten lifetimes of happiness and satisfaction in return.
As much as I hate to disagree, I have to say I feel sorry for my friend. He will spend his life fantasizing the happiness his other dimensional personas will experience rather than seizing this life, here and now, and really being happy himself. I hope Jonathan Larson’s words will not be lost on him.
