Where The Circle Ends

Isolation of a Light Source

In a world that never sleeps, where newspapers are being printed every minute of every hour of every day, where it seems like there are more cars on the road than parking spaces in downtown, it’s really hard to escape.

Social networking sites such as Facebook continually surround us every day of the week. We’re attracted by the constant notifications of any minute action that any of our friends do during the course of their day.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

And it’s true. How often do you think the daily commuters to downtown take a break from work, and just relax and enjoy life?

I strongly believe, from my invigorating experience at afterparty, that every person needs isolation from the world (from time to time). Though in our current society, networking and status updates appear as an utmost importance, I feel that everyone needs a break. Because if we don’t take any breaks, we lose sight of the things that matter to us, and who we really are.

Lying on a beach in Sandbanks Provincial Park, about a thirty minute drive from Belleville, Ontario (pop. 48,821), staring at the night sky, seemingly polluted with bright shining stars, was one of the most magical experiences in my life. I don’t know what it was, but there is something magical about what is above us. Is it heaven? I don’t know. But it’s definitely invisible underneath the skyscrapers and bright lights of the Toronto skyline.

And I think that’s the problem with society. We’re too caught up in trying to be somewhere where we should’ve been five minutes ago, that we don’t take to appreciate the smaller things in life. It’s like a dehumanization of sorts.

And I don’t like it. But I moreover also believe it is inevitable. This new metropolis of technological advancements has been inevitable. It seems as if human beings, were genetically programmed, to continually to improve and improve. It seems as if we’re obsessed to make things faster, stronger, smoother, smaller and more efficient than before. It seems as if there’s no limit.

Will it one day stop? Maybe. But maybe not. Because I firmly see each subsequent generation becoming less interested in nature and the wonders of planet Earth. Rather, I imagine them becoming intoxicated by mass-media, advertisements and the newest technology.

Is it too late?

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper. 

- The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot