I have a habit of taking life too seriously sometimes, a fact I was awakened to in a heart-to-heart with a dear artist friend of mine.
You can’t blame me, really. I take this writing thing seriously. I know it requires a lot of hard work, a bit of emotional stress, and (hopefully not for too long) a serious lack of money. I also take this life thing seriously, knowing there’s a lot of big, bad issues in the world, and there’s not a lot I can do about most of them in “my sad little blip of an existence” (thank you, Douglas Adams, who also gave the sage advice: “Don’t Panic”).
But therein lies the answer. On a cosmic scale (a scale in which the 13.8 billion year lifetime of the universe is mapped onto a single year, Wikipedia) my lifetime is but a blink of the eye, and these global issues are at least a day or two old.
Can I really expect to make a difference?
(On a side note, if you’re interested in global issues, you should read Baker’s “Mr Something”)Well, yes and no. In my blink-of-the-eyes lifetime, I can expect to make a wink-of-an-eye difference in the world. I cannot expect to make a day’s difference, or even a Home and Away Omnibus’s difference, but I can hope that if we all make a wink-of-an-eye difference, we can achieve at least an episode of Friends’ difference together.
When we take life too seriously, it becomes hard to manage. When we remember that we have but a blip of an existence in the world, we realise that instead of obsessing over the big problems we can’t solve, we should tackle what we can. Start with one little positive step, and celebrate it. It may not solve global poverty, but if it made a difference to one person, it’s a victory in itself.
Zee Southcombe 
A great post, Zee. Wise words…I’ve heard our existence described as ‘a spot life’. Puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?
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It really does. It was what I needed – a reminder that life is short and we’ve gotta make most of what we’ve got 🙂 Thanks for your comment, Teagan.
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A great post, Zee. You’ll be surprised by how little things make a big impact on some. I think that is the most appealing thing about blogging, you are reaching out to people with words that might one day find their way to someone who will find hope in them.
I’ve found that the worst thing to do is to try and inspire people, that tantamounts to turning up to a party dressed in your best but not turning any heads, it can be disheartening and before long you stop trying. Being who we really are and being comfortable with it is inspiring enough.
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It’s why I write 🙂
It’s interesting that you point out the best thing to do is be who you really are. We all have our stories to tell and our pain to bear, and it is through these that we can spread hope and inspiration.
I also know that often we touch people without knowing what a difference a small word or action has made to their life.
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One can only do what they can, when they can, where they can, however they can. But we all must do something.. anything..!!
“Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering — and it’s all over much to soon”. ~~Woody Allen
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Thanks for your comment, Mr. Catsoe… And we all can do something, with whatever we’ve got 🙂
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