It is wonderful to write. It is but what gets left behind. The spoken word has greater effect, but not long-term. The written word stays on, open to interpretations, and forever available to enrich the reader.
Every human wonders what he will leave behind when he goes. We are but blessed visitors to this miracle of a Life. Most of those who reside with us on the planet, don't even have the intellect to appreciate this (humans have the intellect, but sadly not enough appreciation). Blessed on average with less than a 100 years (per the Julian calendar) to live, it’s a marvel how much we've progressed. Indeed, challenged ourselves, and built things bigger than our frail bodies. We rule this Earth, well for now at least..
Its but practical that we each think of ourselves. Its our survival instinct, that even if a hundred of us die around, we'll just keep moving on. As wondrous it is, most species somehow seem to be ingrained with this need to reproduce, bear offspring, and ensure continuity of species. So do us humans. It is the understanding of those in the spiritual path that domestic life binds us to the Karmic cycle; prevents us from breaking the chains and achieve true enlightenment. But there are among those who also say that domestic life, just as anything else, cannot bind you unless you are attached to it. The true yogi is compassionate, not attached. He sees the universal soul in each and us, and all living on Earth, as manifestations of it.
So this is the other thing that people contribute, Opinion. A product of our intellect, its important we have them. It is what separates us from a Robots / artificial intelligence. A lot has been done and undone (good and bad) owing to individual and collective opinions. And they all matter. For together they form our culture, our identity. Nothing new can come out unless we each had our opinions. As someone wise once told me, if we all thought everything was perfect just the way it is, or if at some stage of our evolution/scientific progress we all would have been completely satisfied with things, then nothing, absolutely nothing new would have been created.
And thus come the creators. The innovators who took us forward, in forms of society, forms of recording and passing on, in forms of art, in forms of science, in forms of spirituality and everything else that exists today. This order was created by us, our ancestors, humans like us. It's so huge, one feels at awe to perceive. The greatest drivers for these people included the need to make change happen (for what they believed to be for the better), to leave their footprint behind (to be remembered even after death, even if it really might not matter) and (I believe) to a certain genetic level, they were programmed by nature, for the laws of nature actually govern us all.
But what drives all of this: The survival instinct, the opinion, the innovation. What lies beneath? A Sense of Purpose. One way or the other, we are all driven by a Purpose. Including the one who says he is attached to nothing; he is pursuing moksha, a higher goal. From one viewpoint it binds us, but from another it's also what keeps us going. Day in and day out, we cannot live for living's sake. We want our children's education, and them to have better lives. And that becomes our purpose in life. Ironic it is, but even when we retire from active work-life, we pursue relaxation!
In ways a noble purpose is important, for a lack of opportunity to pursue one, is what disillusions people into terrorism. I'm not sure governments completely realize this, else their strategies to combat it would be different. Terrorism gives them two-fold relief: a venue to relieve the angst against unfair forces responsible for the lack of opportunity, and..you guessed it, a purpose! Religion has been a heady, potent mix for an ideal to pursue does not get bigger than that, at least for the common man. Well, government can counter it by using the religions themselves as channels and bring about social, economic welfare. Money wouldn't be spend so much on wars: a chaotic approach, an expression of our basest, animal instincts. An Eye for an Eye definitely sounds like you've chosen the wrong purpose; as Gandhiji said, it'll only turn the whole world blind!
Thus at our core is the need for a purpose. Our ultimate pleasures lie in fulfilling these; however great or small these be, is all relative. And the fact this sense of purpose extended beyond the need to reproduce, is what separates us from other species on Earth and brought us to the top. Be it the terrorist or the scientist, the yogi or the materialist, we all want to know, and fulfill a purpose. And if we chose it too, there is no greater joy!
