Life……is essentially a current sent through matter, drawing from it what it can.
Henri Bergson, the French philosopher worked on three major areas of thought – duration, memory, and what he termed “élan vital” – the vital tendency.
There’s a Life Force – not a “thing”, but real nevertheless.
Heroes Not Zombies 
Check out a poem by Paul Adrian called ‘Robin in Flight’. It deals with the idea of living creatures being not actually objects, but more like forces pushing themselves through the universe, much like the ‘current sent through matter’.
Wow! THANKYOU for that – what a fabulous poem! Spot on! Here’s a link to the poem – http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/25/national-poetry-competition-paul-adrian