The poem How to Be takes its inspiration from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is perhaps the most recognized soliloquy in literature. The troubled prince of Denmark, deliberating the merits of living with discontent or taking a step into the great unknown of death, missed the bigger question. Not whether to merely live, but what to do with that life.
To be or not to be
That is not the question
As if all of life were A or B
One or zero
Computers are binary
Humans are not
Our possibilities are enormous
On any given day
In moments of inspiration
In flashes of brilliance
Throughout a lifespan
Ordered by principals
Shaped by thought
Demonstrated by action
To be or not to be
To live or not to live
No, a better question is
What to be
A better question is
How to be