Decay
I'm not sure I understand our fascination with decay.
With what ifs
and could've beens
and I wonders
and would've beens.
We hunt down abandoned buildings out of sheer curiosity, longing to see that which has not been seen for years, as if the scene has been asleep until our eyes stumble upon it and wake it up with our fancy lenses and bright flashes.
And somehow, we feel special because of it. Decay leaves us with intrigue and wonder, it sparks our imagination and awakens something in us that perhaps was in a deep sleep. It's wonder and intrigue that lead to learning, to discovery, to invention. I'm sure we wouldn't know how half of the things around us work if it weren't for some man or woman becoming curious and investigating the unknown.
What I find interesting is that the minute the decay is related to people, we shy away. We see or hear the word decay and we think deep, dark places full of mould. We think of things rotting because they've been left alone for too long. And perhaps that's just it. Perhaps there's so many people decaying, from the inside out, because they've been left alone for too long. Because we've left them alone for too long, determined to only see the decay we want to see, to wonder in a safe environment that can't make us feel. Because that's the difference between decay of the world around us and decay of people around us. One forces us to feel, one does not. Decay of a human being strikes a chord in us, a chord that plays a song that sings a warning, that it could be us but thankfully it's not. That's why we shy away. It's too real. We can touch that decay, see that decay as it happens, whereas abandoned buildings are cold things without feeling that we can't do a whole lot about... and who needs to?
But humans make other humans feel. The funny thing about feelings is that none of us are really very good at them, which is why we seem to hate sharing them. And embracing a decaying person means we might have to feel unpleasant things, the things that they feel. And we just can't bring ourselves to do it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(This isn't from the writing challenge that I'm slowly completing, this is just because I felt like writing.)
With what ifs
and could've beens
and I wonders
and would've beens.
We hunt down abandoned buildings out of sheer curiosity, longing to see that which has not been seen for years, as if the scene has been asleep until our eyes stumble upon it and wake it up with our fancy lenses and bright flashes.
And somehow, we feel special because of it. Decay leaves us with intrigue and wonder, it sparks our imagination and awakens something in us that perhaps was in a deep sleep. It's wonder and intrigue that lead to learning, to discovery, to invention. I'm sure we wouldn't know how half of the things around us work if it weren't for some man or woman becoming curious and investigating the unknown.
What I find interesting is that the minute the decay is related to people, we shy away. We see or hear the word decay and we think deep, dark places full of mould. We think of things rotting because they've been left alone for too long. And perhaps that's just it. Perhaps there's so many people decaying, from the inside out, because they've been left alone for too long. Because we've left them alone for too long, determined to only see the decay we want to see, to wonder in a safe environment that can't make us feel. Because that's the difference between decay of the world around us and decay of people around us. One forces us to feel, one does not. Decay of a human being strikes a chord in us, a chord that plays a song that sings a warning, that it could be us but thankfully it's not. That's why we shy away. It's too real. We can touch that decay, see that decay as it happens, whereas abandoned buildings are cold things without feeling that we can't do a whole lot about... and who needs to?
But humans make other humans feel. The funny thing about feelings is that none of us are really very good at them, which is why we seem to hate sharing them. And embracing a decaying person means we might have to feel unpleasant things, the things that they feel. And we just can't bring ourselves to do it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(This isn't from the writing challenge that I'm slowly completing, this is just because I felt like writing.)
Comments
Post a Comment