The vicious circles we feed

There is a place in the heart of the city where people go to disappear. It’s a place you often pass by on your daily route to work, shopping or whatever else you choose to spend you time, money and energy on. But you don’t realise they are there. You pretend not to see them. Not to know that these neighbourhoods are different.

We fear different. We oppose and react to whatever we don’t understand.

We don’t even try to change things. We simply acknowledge that they are not how they should.

And so, we continue our lives, and more people simply disappear out of theirs.

Because it is not easy to actually live. To have a life that fulfils you and completes you. People are used to existing. And documenting their existence to prove to others that they are doing things worthwhile. In reality, trying to convince themselves that they matter.

We close our eyes to those who need help. Because we don’t want to assume the responsibility of change.

And then we protest that nothing ever changes or improves. Like a vicious circle we ourselves feed.

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Broken time

©MCD

She wanted a walk on the beach. It was the only thing that could calm her storms. And lately her outbreaks were many. He couldn’t understand why. And she couldn’t explain it to him.

They walked hand in hand in silence, listening to the tranquil splash of the waves on the shore.

It had just rained and the clouds were beginning to disperse in the sky.

A few sailboats interrupted the endless smooth water surface.

A few ducks allowed themselves to drift by, along with a seagull who appeared tired of flying.

They sat down for a while by a wooden bench staring into the ocean.

There it was. A broken peer. As if abandoned to its fate. As if forgotten.

She gazed at it for minutes, wondering what stories it had to tell, how many lives had walked on it, in how many memories it featured.

And then… all those moments were simply gone.

Maybe it is true that nothing lasts forever. It is certainly painful. But that is also the reason why we need to make every moment count and everything we live in it beautiful.

A shining star in a dim sky

There is a story an elderly monk used to tell his young novices:

“There was a star born one night in the darkness. Its light was dim and it could hardly be seen in the night sky. No-one really even knew it was there. It existed unnoticed. The star was upset and disappointed. It felt invisible. But as time passed it was growing in size. Disheartened as it was with life, its shine was still absent. A dim star is one that hardly exists. Other stars gathered beside it, bigger or smaller, they were certainly brighter. The star – that was no longer little – became even more upset. It was discouraged by the competition. One night it heard a little girl point to the sky and shout in amazement “look at all the bright lights!”. The star felt for the first time noticed. And for this,  it wanted to make its presence even more prominent. So it tried with all its heart to shine the brightest. And suddenly the entire sky lit up. The sky was hiding its glow within it; over the years it had gathered so much light but failed to find a way to transmit it. Or rather, a reason to do so. It’s difficult to be a shining star in a dim sky. But you should never allow the fear of glowing too brightly from dimming the shine you have within you. And knowing that you’re bright all alone. No need to be compared with anyone else.”

Also part of Daily Prompt: Dim

A blink in time

When you start counting your past in two-digit numbered-years, you know you’ve lived a lot. But you never cease to be amazed by how rapidly time really rushes by. It’s only when you think of what has been that you begin to realise the magnitude of the things you’ve experienced and all the things you’ve managed to do and survive. Yet you’ll always sadden at the thought that many of those things and people that accompanied you in your earlier years don’t exist anymore. And you tremble at the frightening thought that the same fate awaits you sometime in your future. All you can hope is that it will be far away.

As children we believe that the people around as are immortal. And that our surroundings will endure forever, surviving every disaster, natural or manmade. It is as we grow up that this innocence and lack of realism is lost. As is our ability to dream.

We live in a world that is both terrifying and wonderful. One in which time passes by so fast that if you blink you’ll miss the moments you have to live.

Our lives are but a swish in this vast universe and all we can do is take as much out of them as we possible can. Make a reality out of your dreams; do the things that scare you but will make you stronger; spend more time with the people you love; demonstrate your appreciation and gratitude to those that matter; and help those that can’t help themselves. A life well-lived is one that is full to the brim with experiences, with as least regrets as possible, with memories you cherish, and with the satisfaction that you took advantage to the utmost of all the time that was given to you.

“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives” – Lemony Snicket

 

Do undocumented lives make an existence real?

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Who would know. But that doesn’t rule out the fact that the tree fell. Similarly, if we live a life without posting every single moment of it on social media, are we really living? If there is no (public) proof, how can you demonstrate you are doing the things you do?

There are so many artificial “lives” floating online these days that we are called to distinguish between what is true and what is not. People nowadays feel the urge to gloat, to advertise, and to boast every single – usually happy – moment they experience. But how can you really engage in that moment when you are so busy taking photos, filtering and editing it, coming up with the appropriate hashtags, and picking your brain for the best comment to accompany it with, and then striving to find a proper internet connection in order to upload it to all your followers who in your mind are waiting at the edge of their seats to find out what you’re doing? Does this seem like a life you are enjoying to the fullest?

What about all those people who lived before social media (yes, life did exist before the advent of the Internet)? What about all those Roman emperors and Greek philosophers? We don’t even have a picture of them, yet we know they lived and they accomplished greatness. Are our lives evolving towards pettiness? Towards being so superficial that it matters more to publicize that we are doing something than to actually do it? And what does this say of people themselves?

We are supposed to evolve so that we make our ancestors proud. Instead, the way we are progressing, we will only make our descendants ashamed (provided that they don’t turn out to be even worse).

The Existential Dilemma

We have all at some point or other stopped, gazed beyond the horizon into the unknown, and simply pondered: what am I doing? Where am I going? Why am I doing anything?

It has happened to the best of us. Trying to find meaning in your life. There have been entire philosophies devoted to this – it is called existentialism and it emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice.

It is the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. It focuses on the question of human existence, and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation at the core of existence.

But maybe the truth is that we think too much. Perhaps we should embrace our very existence, our being, our life, and live it to the fullest, experiencing emotions to their full depth and enjoying every minute of our so valuable lives.