Starre

I opened the door and screamed at the top of my lungs, there was so much blood. I looked around the room and there she was, her lifeless body was lying on the floor. I wish I could say that knowing what pushed her over the edge allowed me to cope with her death, but truthfully I wish I hadn’t known. She lived her life for others and was never truly happy, with the constant pressure to be perfect and unable to live for herself, she left. The night before it happened she told me how she truly felt about society, the pressure, and the unrealistic goals of leaving your mark. She told me how much she loved me, and then she was gone. How did I miss the signs?

  They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time. Meaning, first your physical body dies and then the memory of the person you once were dies afterwards. In society almost everyone is obsessed with the concept of being remembered after they are gone, but why? Does it bother us that much to be forgotten? To avoid being overlooked, we strive to change the world. In the words of John Green, “Oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only Earth we’ll ever have.” Whether you were the first person to survive a black hole, or the most intelligent person to ever walk this Earth, it does not matter. Both our successes and failures here on Earth only prolong our inevitable and inescapable second death. Instead of living to be remembered when you are gone, live for yourself and do what makes you happy. If you happen to change someone’s life along the way, good for you. Our time here on Earth is finite and it is important we do not live for the wrong reasons because eventually all will be forgotten in the end. Today, all that I am left with is the last conversation we ever had, but as much as I try to hold on I know that will eventually leave too.