Perpetual Light and Destiny

  In Julian Aguon’s The Properties of Perpetual Light, he emphasizes the importances of living our lives for ourselves and the future generations. With that, we must not live our lives based on what others say and do, because we inherently know what we can best provide for the world: “the only way to successfully make the journey (from adolescence to adulthood) is to learn how to ‘get quiet’–that is, to quiet down the noise of other people’s opinions and to take instruction instead from one’s own heart” (Aguon, 4). To do the best with the time we are given and to allow that time to pass, we should do what we can to better the world – no matter how small or seemingly insignificant – our actions have consequences, and we best make them consequences that benefit the future.
 The stoic philosophy emphasizes the fact that an individual can control some things, but not others. It is not in our power to fix the entire world, but it is in our power to fix part of our immediate world. If everyone worked to improve their immediate world, the whole world would be a better place. This philosophy goes in line with Aguon’s interest in the story of the alchemist and the boy, as it urges people to control what they can, and leave others to control their own lives. Aguon paraphrases The Alchemist by saying “anyone who interferes with another's destiny will never discover her own” (Aguon, 4). While we cannot directly change other people’s futures, we can surely better our own, and with that, we are making the world a better place.
    The idea of destiny is interesting in Aguon’s text because it forces us to acknowledge that our goal in this life is to find our own purpose, fulfill it, and to act “as if everything [we] love is on the line. Because it is” (Aguon, 5). When our loves are threatened immediately and in the future, it calls us to act bravely and with intention. This calls us to be thoughtful, courageous, loving, generous with love, and more.

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