I have noticed that along with social media has come an avalanche of postings from the world at large.  This new portal has come to us through a plethora of media sites and has become everyone’s stage.  To quote Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”  I would say he was unto something here.

I opened my WordPress account due to encouragement from many sources.  So many of my friends who read my stories and poems would say to me “You need to write a book”.  Naturally, I enjoyed hearing this, but I took it “tongue in cheek”, so to speak.  I knew I had been blessed with the ability to write rhyme and it is a lot of fun to do as a hobby.  I also enjoyed observational writing, where I would write what I experienced day to day in journal form.  I am not presumptuous enough to think I could publish a book, but the idea of writing in a blog form appealed to me, so I took the plunge.

What is it about we humans that makes us think we are of a “few” who like to do a certain thing?  Some of us enjoy writing, painting, taking photos, singing, acting, dancing, playing an instrument…the list goes on and on, and this is just in the form of the arts. Talent abounds on our planet and it expresses itself in an endless amount of ways…science, medicine, history, art…..  I see it everywhere.  In our modern life, where the media has completely engulfed us, we would have to be blind to not see that everyone needs and wants an outlet in which to express themselves.  

I wonder if this is our way of quenching our thirst for immortality?  We want to leave our footprint behind in the world because we know our life experience is just temporary.  A basic undeniable fact is that we each have a beginning and an end to our life.  We know in our heart that in just a couple of generations, we could possibly end up being an old photograph in an old photo album and someday, someone will be looking at it asking “I wonder who this is?” In some future time and place our picture may end up in an antique shop where someone will buy it because they like the frame and when they get it home they will pull out our picture, toss it aside to be replaced with their loved ones photo! 

Is it some people’s desire to be famous so they won’t be forgotten? Abraham Lincoln said “God must have loved the common man because he made so many of them”.  I think we don’t want to be part of the forgotten masses.  We want to make our mark on the world in some way. 

Perhaps this is why modern families work so hard to be a part of their offsprings lives.  As Grandma and Grandpa are busily involved with their Grandchildren, they take comfort in knowing they are “making memories”.  We all like to think that when our time arrives to pass on to the next world, we will leave behind someone who will carry our essence around in their heart long after we have departed.  I don’t think this is all premeditated, rather, it is a deep yearning in our soul to feel that our existence has made a difference.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born and a time to die.” It is in dying, where we find ourselves most ambivalent, even for those of us who understand the meaning of Grace and life eternal.

So, until my demise, I shall write….I shall read good books…..I shall plant and create and love and thrive as I do.  As long as I can find a way to express myself in this world, maybe, just maybe, I will leave my world a little better place than I found it. 

Jjb/5/25/2016