Being and Time

Imagine, for a moment, the gentle hush of early morning. The world is still, and in that stillness, a question quietly echoes through the ages: What does it mean to be? This is not the kind of question that shouts for attention, but one that waits, patiently, beneath the surface of our daily lives. Heidegger invites us to notice that this question—so simple, so obvious—has become invisible to us. It is as if we have walked past a beautiful garden every day, never pausing to look inside, convinced we know its every flower, yet never truly seeing its blooms.

Why has this question been forgotten? Because, in our routines, we assume we already know what it means to exist. We say, 'the sky is blue,' or 'I am happy,' without ever pausing to ask what it means for something to be. The concept of Being is like the air we breathe—everywhere, yet unnoticed. This is the first gentle insight: the most universal things are often the most obscure.

Heidegger’s story is not just about philosophy, but about the way we live. In our rush for progress, we have become experts in many things, but beginners in the art of wonder. The question of Being is not a technical puzzle, but a call to awaken from our slumber. To truly live, we must ask again what we think we already know. This is the necessity of repetition: to look anew at the world, to let mystery return to our hearts.

Consider a child, seeing rain for the first time, reaching out to feel each drop. For the child, nothing is taken for granted. Heidegger asks us to become like that child, to let the strangeness of existence touch us again. Philosophy, he says, begins not in answers, but in perplexity.

Yet, this is not a call to despair, but to hope. For in rediscovering the question of Being, we rediscover ourselves. We find that the world is not a collection of things, but a living mystery, waiting for us to notice. As we move forward, let us carry this gentle wonder with us, and see where it leads. Next, we’ll explore how this question shapes the very being that asks it—each of us, in our everyday lives.