Memory is a tricky bitch on extremes as we tend to remember either only the very best moments of our lives or the most shitty ones for the rest of our days. Any memory in between is just a vague one, bound to wither away soon after they are made. Like faulty productions of the mind taken to an abandoned slaughterhouse, to make space for proper, more memorable ones.
Seriously, nobody commemorates five days after their insignificant thirteenth birthday, when they had a mediocre steak sandwich on a dull day, with a cousin they thought little of. That’s exactly why we want to make good memories not only for us, but for other people around us… just for the sake of being remembered or simply not being forgotten.
As mentioned before memories are only immortal if they’re on extremes. We can choose to be either super-nice or plain assholes. We can be the new Florence Nightingale or the next Hitler. There’s no grey in Yin Yang and there’s certainly no place for average Joes in memories. To survive in memories and not to fade away, we have to pick sides.
So, what are we trying to achieve here?
Eternal life or a mere illusion?
Ancient gods allegedly leashed catastrophes upon Earth, where they are still alive and kicking inside mythological books, residing in the minds of religiously-driven individuals. How come people heard of Gilgamesh from a totally different geography from thousands of years ago and not their own great grand father who was probably a simple farmer as well as their reason of existence, couple of blocks (farms) away? What makes us a god? What makes us a hero? What resets us to zero?
Artists create masterpieces, to mark their presence onto the timeline and to carry their names into next generations.The irony is that their masterpieces surpass their intended personal fame and remembrance. Who knows jackshit about Picasso’s dad, Monet’s granny or Charlie Chaplin’s real parents? (You didn’t even know he was an orphan, did you?)
Ordinary people make children. Mini versions of themselves to be immortal. To be living forever in the egg-shelled minds of their offspring who won’t even care who had shagged who to create them when they reach an able-minded age to think about their own survival.
And there!!! Overpopulation contributed by each like-minded individual for the sake of being remembered leads to hunger, unemployment and even pollution. So, the cost of just wanting to be remembered is actually the cause of most current world issues.
Someone once asked me why I tried to make them happy without wanting anything in return. Perhaps, I just want to be remembered by someone without causing any global issues.
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