Just about every single point of publication, whether online or off has been devoted to summing up the last ten years. Analysis of events deemed to be world shifting is coupled with offbeat references to our supposed past naivety. We now know better about the economic fragility of the world, what clothes look good and what politics is defunct. However, I reject the idea that we have actually changed as a species. While the form of our existence may have changed, at the core we are the same.
While we are being bombarded with these retrospectives we are also beset by the previously mentioned snow. When we see this pure and untouched frozen canvas we are compelled to leave some kind of mark. It does not matter what form it takes; a footprint, a message, a drawing. We just have to make an impression and are scornful to those that have made one before us. Inevitably, the snow will melt and along with it, our mark fades away. That is, until the next snow fall comes and we find ourselves faced with another clean, white slate.
Our species understands the transience of life and existence. We know that any mark that we make individually or as a group will be carried away with the passing of our lives. This pointlessness of what we deem 'achievement' is almost impossible to face and so we fight hard to resist it. For a moment, we celebrate and commiserate a decade so that we can move on to the next. These retrospectives allow us to feel a sense of control over time while allowing us to become subjects to its power over us. Even if these sensations are illusory, they are necessary.
So let us take full advantage of this current reflective period, for it will melt away very shortly.
-Then English Student
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