the.thirst

Although our collective cultural enthrallment with Vampires has (pardon the pun) died down a bit, I believe that the story of the Vampire will forever hold a special place in the psyche of humans. Garlic, stakes, silver and sunlight aside, I believe we are all—metaphorically—Vampires.

Stories in a culture are a mirror held up to our collective consciousness, and the story of the Vampire is no exception. Even blood is an important metaphor here. Blood represents our life force in an important way. It animates us, and a body drained of blood is still intact and looks much the same, but is without life. Vampires do not eat us whole, ripping flesh from bone like any other meat eater; humans included. The poetic beauty of Vampires is that they only take our life force, leaving us otherwise intact. Also an apt metaphor for Capitalism, I think.

Vampirism could be seen as a metaphor for how we live much of our lives. Money, time, energy, and emotions… they are all life force. From time-to-time we feel suitably alive, and animated by the life force flowing through us. Other times, we feel drained of our life forces either through individuals, or through systems like Capitalism, that leave us feeling like we are barely clinging to life. This is to say, some times we feel more Vampire than human. If you are drained to such an extent that you die, you will inevitably turn into a vampire too: doomed to drain the life force from others and perpetuating the cycle. This is something to watch out for.

But, besides being a cautionary tale of energy exchange, the metaphor is also appropriate for how each of us chooses to live our lives. Humans all have the thirst; except for us, it translates into a feeling of “I need more”. This drive for always getting more is our human nature, and without it, our species would die off because we would completely stop striving for survival. But unfortunately this thirst cannot be quenched either. We never get to a point in our lives where we say: “Ok, this is enough. I am going to stop now and just live with what I have.” We somehow always feel like we are just teetering on the brink of survival. We are always parched, no matter how much we drink!

So why the fascination with Vampires, when they represent such an ugly truth about our nature? I think it is because the story of Vampires shows the outcomes of choosing (or not) to go against your biological tendencies. Good Vampires choose to be more than what nature rendered them as, whilst evil Vampires revel in their place in the food chain, and completely give in to their instinct to kill and drain. Ironically, even though Vampires represent an evolved species, when a vampire chooses to embrace his nature, he is reduced to nothing more than an animal. The good Vampire, that learns to live with his unquenchable thirst, goes on to pursue a meaningful life. Within this paradox lies our fascination with Vampires.

Homo sapiens sapien means “The man that knows that he knows”. We know much about our human nature, yet if we choose to give into it completely, we are reduced to animals. And that is what a vampire is: Homo sapiens anamalus…the man that knows he is an animal. In this way, we are all Vampires, unless we choose to be more than that.

So I propose we all learn to live with the thirst. Instead of telling ourselves: “I will be happy when I get more money/ a mate/ that house/ this new job/ more sex/ that next vacation etc”, we choose to accept the truth that even though this thirst might seem life threatening and very visceral, it is NOT going to be quenched by the next achieved goal. Of course, we will never stop striving, but we must learn to live a joyful life while we pursue our goals. It is a delicate balance, and since our lives are always in flux—dependent on a million factors from sleep, to traffic, to state of mind—the thirst will seem stronger sometimes. When we are tired, we reach for candy; when we are lonely we look for sex; when we are sad, we dream about money. Our suffering is vast and varied, but it is all connected. And therefore, most of it can be alleviated simply through acknowledgement. Acknowledge your thirst, and then move toward enjoying your life anyway.