What does it mean to be alive? Is anyone alive? If you were to look up the word ‘alive’ there would be the decided definition of the word itself clear as day; Living, not dead. But is that really all there is to a term so synonymous with the largest aspect of the world?

My own definition of being alive is being happy. To be alive is to lounge around in my jammies all day playing video games. For someone else to be alive is to work in a cubical working 9-5. Asking people what they think about when they hear the word ‘alive’ comes up with many different answers. 

Some may think of death when they hear the word alive. In reference to the life cycle, someone is born and sooner or later their time runs out and they depart. Being alive is little more than a precursor to death. Though grim, in that case some people don’t think that death “ends” life - to them, being alive is just the energy they hold and once they’ve passed on their energy joins into the universe to be shared with the next to come after. In similar ways, the essence of the departed can be within the memories of those that remain, for as long as they are remembered they will never truly cease living.

Though all of that is the essence of life after death, what if the dead aren’t actually dead? Rather than the energy dispersing into the material world, what if life continues - just elsewhere? Religion has a big part in people's feelings of being alive. Those who hold their faith in the heavenly power to guide them onwards after they’ve passed in the mortal world, who pray to take a seat amongst their denomination in a heavenly plane. Surely these people can’t be told that life stops at the moment of death. Most, if not all religions have a sense of the afterlife, even fictional religions found in literature, media, or video games. Wherever it can be found, the thought of death comes with a sense of reward, a release, a sanctuary. The afterlife is a common ground in which the world has the same wish for - peace after death.

Is that, then, the true meaning of living? To be at peace? Whether the heart is beating or the soul is resting, is the nuance of being alive to be at peace? Maybe not so, what of those who seek the thrill, the adrenaline, the anxiety that the world can give them. Jumping off the highest bridge, falling from airplanes, swimming with the most dangerous of life in the deepest of waters reachable, all the while they can be found saying “I’ve never felt more alive!” That doesn’t sound very peaceful. In that case, is being alive to be at peace or to be on the verge of death feeling the thrill of walking the wire between life and death, constantly being reminded that life has an end and tempting the clutches of death?

Another word can be found tightly knit with living, even in this text, life. Are they the same thing? It’s hard to say. To some, life can be defined as the presence and act of being part of a cycle in the world. To have life is to take and contribute in the world to keep it turning. Animals, plants, elements, us, we are all life. Life gives and takes. To be alive is more personalised, more spontaneous, ever changing and only answerable by the soul. A tree is life, but a tree cannot feel alive. Not as far as we know, at least.

But where is the line between having life and being alive drawn? It might be easy to dismiss and say that feeling alive is exclusive to humanity, that the life of the earth does not feel or think the same way that we do, but there is never a way to be certain. Countless videos and stories of animals acting in bizarre ways that show their capability of emotion. Dogs and cats displaying signs of grief toward their unfortunately departed or severely wounded owners, an elderly animal protecting babies of an entirely different species - or two different species growing up from youth together and sharing friendship. Animals show clear capacity to remember, to think, and to act of free will. Is it possible to say that they are not alive, simply because they cannot speak?

Then, what is the definition of ‘alive’? Having a beating heart? Having fun? Accomplishing achievements? Leaving a mark on the world? Being remembered? Moving to heaven? Feeling at peace? Seeking thrills? Working with the world? Feeling? The answer is yes. There is no answer. All of these statements are both true and false. I can’t decide these things, that decision belongs to the ones who are Alive.

That decision belongs to you.