Sunday, February 15, 2015

5 Paragraph Essay

Sometimes it takes being in a new place, knowing no one, and having no place to call home to find out where you stand in life. I'm still not sure if I'm frightened or pleased that I can walk down the street, passing hundreds of people and yet not a single person within thousands of miles knows that I exist. As an onlooker in a foreign city, this is how life would be, how life would appear regardless if I'm here or not. Summer in Australia is happening before my eyes, but would it happen if I closed them? Would it keep happening even if I wasn't here? Sure it would. Exactly how it's happening now.

In this world it is possible to exist as a ghost, and it is possible to lose touch with reality via the push of a button or tap of a screen. Regardless, everyone changes the future along with others' lives simply by existing. I don't mind existing in this particular realm, because as I view my current surroundings, maybe there's somebody out there observing me or my environment as well. And as I sit here, anonymously riding the bus, I realize that it's a temporary state. That no matter how long you choose to be a spectator, eventually someone is going to throw you into the game. So why wait for the coach to put you in when the lineup card is in your hands?

There is a reason why many don't believe in ghosts: because they can't fathom the possibility that they're hiding in living people, amongst us in everyday life. They're the outsiders, the foreigners, the homeless, the overlooked aspects of society. And though they may not cross our minds throughout the day, they're out there living life just like the rest of us.

Today the internet is awash with photos to show every place, every view, every discoverable corner Earth has to offer, solving one problem while creating another. With the sudden ease of information access, many forget about the adventure along the way. We can now get from point A to point B faster than ever at the expense of overlooking the area in between. But perhaps the greatest tragedy is allowing oneself to lose the will to discover, the will to endeavor without automation. The world doesn't stop when nobody around knows you exist, it stops when we fail to advance it.

I step out of the bus and into it.

1 comment:

  1. It seems today that I have found a time machine. Not just that - but a space machine! It would appear that this lovely machine has allowed me not only to see back in time but also to be where you are, albeit from the (dis)comfort of my working chair. (I minor problem. Sure to be fixed in a few years when you have access to a new machine). How glad I am that this machine allows me to be with you, even while days away (literally). My ghost, which not to long ago found itself frozen in its grave, is now dancing (maybe shivering) to a song it's never heard.

    And to think that people don't believe in resurrected ghosts. Imagine what ghosts lay dormant waiting for YOU to come along and tempt them to life with your presence. Au contraire, watch for these other living ghosts as they drift and dance to the tune of life. One may even follow the songs straight to your bodily tomb and evoke your sleeping spirit. While in this new city, how often have you found yourself accepting the invitations of your fellow drifting specters? How eager and willing are you to dance, even if you do not know the song?

    I am delighted to hear that you are able to drink in the splendors of a new place. Some say to travel is to learn. If this is true then it would appear to me that there is no one more apt to learn than you, dear brother. I think of all the nights you ventured out on the streets of our home on your bicycle. I can travel these streets for a lifetime and still not know about them as much as you.

    "Keep singing, little boy, and raise your arms to big big black sky. Raise your arms the highest you can so the whole universe will glow." -M83


    Blessed travels, little brother. I will be waiting for your song to carry the glow of the rising sun as it dusk sets in Adelaide.

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