Thoughts on the Void

There are very few certainties in life. Success is not guaranteed. Peace within is the bedrock of a good existence. Love alone is not always enough to sustain a relationship. And sometimes no one is to blame when things go wrong.

We tend to get so hung up on our failures that we overlook the positive influence we’ve made just by trying. Not a soul on this planet has existed that has not met failure. Not a heart has beat that has not hurt. Not a mouth has smiled that did not before frown.

Perseverance is our species greatest contribution to our small part of the cosmos. It is very easy to give up and quit. Fear and pain can quickly turn into despair.

And yet, here we are.

Somehow an animal that struggles to coexist with the very environment in which it was born birthed the wheel, agriculture, and civilization. We created art to give meaning to what we feel in our hearts. We taught ourselves to fly without wings. And now we explore our own solar system.

In 10,000 years we went from near extinction to encroaching on the realm of the gods, but it has not been easy. We have not always been altruistic tenants. We invented war. We enslaved our neighbors. We brought our house into disrepair. We wandered to the brink of destruction and taunted fate, multiple times.

While humanity is not perfect, our potential is without limit. Our imagination knows no boundary. Once we shed ourselves of the ideology that chains us to hatred and bickering over petty differences and vanity, then and only then will we truly ascend.

I failed to mention in my opening that there is one certainty I hold above all others. It is the altar at which I pray: that hope will always light the path forward. Hope that we can be better– to ourselves and each other. Hope that we can fix what is broken– within ouselves and the area surrounding our presence. And hope that the smile waiting tomorrow will be a reason to endure the pain today.

When all else has abandoned us, when everything feels wrong, and when no amount of effort seems to make a difference; hope remains. It is in each breath. It is the first sight after the blink of an eye. It will never leave us alone.