Why striving itself is an act of defiance
The Pull of Disorder
Left alone, everything falls apart. Wood rots. Muscles weaken. Friendships fade. Buildings crumble. Lives unravel. The universe tends toward entropy — disorder, disintegration, decay.
And yet, here we are: building, loving, creating, striving. To live at all is to resist the pull of collapse. Every act of growth is a rebellion against the drag of entropy.
Life as Negentropy
Scientists sometimes speak of “negentropy” — the opposite of entropy. It’s the crystallization that builds order where there would be none. A flower pushing through concrete. A child learning to read. A family passing on tradition.
Human striving is negentropy in motion. It’s how we refuse to simply dissolve. When we take up a purpose, when we try, when we create, we are saying to the universe: Not yet. Not today. I will rise up against the tide.
Standing in the Storm
Picture a lone figure in a storm. Wind howls, rain lashes, debris scatters. Most of us would crouch, hide, retreat. But imagine this figure standing taller, setting shoulders against the gale, taking a step forward anyway.
That is what striving feels like. The storm of entropy is real, but the act of moving forward — of trying at all — is defiance.
We can’t stop the storm forever. But we can choose not to collapse before we must.
Creation as Resistance
Every act of creation pushes back against chaos.
- Writing a story that might outlive us.
- Repairing a friendship instead of letting it fracture.
- Planting a tree that roots deeper each year.
- Building a business, a song, a movement, a home.
None of these erase entropy. But they carve out islands of meaning, places where life grows richer rather than thinner.
To create is to rise up.
Why We Resist
Some might ask: why fight entropy when the end is inevitable? If all will crumble, why strive at all?
Because the striving is the point. It gives dignity to our brief existence. It honors the gift of consciousness by choosing to build rather than drift.
A sandcastle will wash away, but the act of building it with joy still matters. Life is the same.
The Flame That Burns
Think of a candle. Its flame consumes fuel and will eventually burn out. But while it burns, it pushes back the dark.
Our striving is like that flame. Temporary, yes. But luminous. To resist collapse for a moment is to create light that otherwise would never have existed.
Practices of Rising Up
- Create something small each day. Write, cook, plant, repair, sing.
- Care for what you have. Maintenance — of body, relationships, spaces — is resistance.
- Pursue growth. Learn something new, strengthen something weak.
- Name your storm. Identify the entropy in your life (apathy, decay, distraction) and take one step against it.
Even small acts are victories of negentropy.
Mortality’s Role
Mortality reminds us that the tide of entropy will win eventually. But that doesn’t make resistance pointless. It makes it precious and noble.
Because our striving is temporary, it shines brighter. Because our time is short, each act of creation carries weight.
To rise up against chaos, even briefly, is to leave the universe more ordered, more meaningful, more alive than it would have been without us.
Closing Thought
Entropy will always whisper: give up, let go, why bother. But to live is to answer back: I will try anyway.
Every creation, every act of care, every risk, every dream — these are our defiant flames. They will not burn forever, but while they burn, they light the dark.
So rise up. Stand in the storm. Push against the tide.
Because striving is not only survival. It is our way of honoring the miracle of being alive.
