Most people have a fear, the fear of death. Like the urgency we feel at close of day, we exist with this anxiety, anxiety that stems from this sense that we are untethered. Some people find their tether in religion, shaping their lives around the belief that when their day comes, there is life after. That everything they have done over the entirety of their lives has appeased and placated their final judgment. Constant struggle is part of what it means to be human, along with this desire to leave a mark, whether it’s through success in a career field or having a monolith constructed in your name. Ozymandias, a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, really helped put this in perspective for me.
This piece, which reminded me of my own mortality,
This piece, which reminded me of my own mortality,