"Was it what life was about?" , by Erik Pevernagie, oil on cardboard, 88 x 66 cm

“What if ?”. With this counterfactual question we could start questioning our life and ask what might have happened, if we had taken a different decision or we had set another course. What, if we would have rejected or accepted an idea at a particular time in the course of our life time.

By constructing an alternative history of our existence, we could come to a better understanding of what our life is about and comprehend, if we essentially own our life or if we are just lived.

Through the “What if?” alternate questions, we can recognize, whether we are actually impersonating some other people or not. We can realize that we could defy many vital questions like: Have we got our own identity? Have we kept our integrity? What about our “ego”? Have we got a quiet ego or a too rebellious ego? Have we got a “repairing ego” or do we need to restore our ego?

When we ask “Is it what life is about?”, when we pose numerous counterfactual questions, we can either stick to the situation, close the book and consider our life as history or we can challenge ourselves, discover our being from another angle and start writing a new script of our life.

Phenomenon: Counterfactual questions

Factual starting point: Thinking woman