Some say Life and Death are the great equalizers,
because everyone who has ever existed had to have been born, and death will
come for them as surely as the Sun will rise and the snow will fall.
Carl Sagan said it best: “ […] every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, […] hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived [and died] there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” 1
Carl Sagan said it best: “ […] every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, […] hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived [and died] there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” 1
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| Life goes on. Make sure you're on board for the ride. |
It is without question that every second that ticks by is our personal clock running out of time, and the majority of those seconds agglomerate into minutes, then hours, followed by days, weeks and finally years, that are wiped clean from the dark recesses of our memories. The fraction of our existence that we manage to remember is a feeble sliver of the entire masterpiece.
The moments that we recall can be powerful and leave a lasting impression on our lives, the death of a family member or acceptance into medical school after years of painstaking hard labor, for instance. Others seem so insignificant and feeble we wonder how they managed to cling to our recollections at all: our first crush, a Hot Wheels car we traded for a Han Solo Lego character, an unexceptional park bench covered in morning dew, the day it snowed 6 inches of snow and we had to shovel it all with nothing but the companionship of our superman of a father.
Life’s this game of connect the
dots; each circle is one of those precious snapshots that we hang onto ever so
dearly, while the lines that connect them are the unremarkable instances that
our over saturated craniums decide are unworthy of reminiscence. My grandmother has
a scrapbook of pictures of those moments in life she deigned worthy of
immortalizing, and upon perusing this vast treasure-trove, I saw they were
strewed with her collections of stones, the animals she had owned, the students
she taught, the school she helped build, her honeymoon, but mostly her family,
past and present. That’s when the realisation struck me like a lightning bolt
(shockingly, that’s no metaphor): our lives are the sum of our memories. Tune in next week for those stages of my life, and humanity’s existence in general I deign the most noteworthy, and that make up the person I am today as well as the one I hope to become.
References:
1 The wise words of Carl Sagan http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1816628-pale-blue-dot-a-vision-of-the-human-future-in-space
Jonathan, I've always enjoyed reading you're work. There is litterally something about the way that you write that just captures the reader, you've always been able to do this and I enjoy it. Maybe this is my addiction (I just read Ben's blog). Anyway, interesting topic and am really looking forward to continuing reading it!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Nicki, I'm rather touched by your heartfelt sentiments. First and foremost, my goal is to grasp your attention, and once I've obtained it, my hope is that you stay forever! That sounds a tad dark, but I promise you I have nothing but the best intentions in mind. I sincerely wish that my next blog post captivates you nearly as much as this one. Please, feel free to share any of your wonderful escapades into memory lane at any time (big or small)!
DeleteJonny, Jonny, Jonny. I can always count on you to make me think a lot harder about something than I would have liked. Despite the fact that this blog will keep me up at night pondering my own existence and the meaning of life, I will read it religiously until the very last entry. I look forward to your insightful beliefs and incredibly hilarious real-life stories. Good day to you, sir.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Joel! My intention is always to grease your cogs and have them running more effectively. The idea is to infuse some of my own pre-sleep rumination into everyday reverie in the hopes that together we can build a philosophy or chain of reasoning that people can reference as a guide to living life a little more thoughtfully. I am also incredibly eager to share those thrilling tales of mine that, with luck, will tickle your funny bone! Good day to you as well!
DeleteWOW! Not only was this entry captivating and thought provoking, it was also beautifully written. The images you've chosen to use helped make your post so relatable and vivid in my mind Jonathan. Its as though you're reading this post out loud to me! haha! Your take on existence and time is super interesting and well explained, very easy to grasp. However, I do personally believe that time can never be wasted and it is sometimes profitable to stop and breathe. But hey, thats where we differ as people ;) Your opinion definitely help shape my own. Thank you for sharing your ideas Jonathan! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Gen! I’m glad I could substantiate these abstract concepts into something manageable. Writing these blogs helps me make sense of all the jumbled thoughts that pervade my brain and sort them into a logical pattern. Yet I quite agree with your claim that every moment should be cherished since a second has the potential to hold a lifetime. Maybe the reason you seem so relaxed is that you remind yourself to stop and smell the roses. I’ll make a mental note to take a lead out of your book now and then! Thank you for your equally insightful comment and your praise, they both warm my heart greatly!
DeleteThis is probably going to be one of the most insightful blogs of our class. You always use such a vast vocabulary and every time you speak I always have to think a little bit because your words are different and perceptive. I very much look forward to reading this blog as it will probably lighten up my day.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, I really enjoyed reading your blog. I really liked the way that you described life as being a game of connect the dots. I had never thought of life that way before and I find it to be a very neat concept. Your anecdotes very much added to your topic as well and I really appreciated that. I look forward to reading your future blog posts!
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