We're born, we die, and some of the more fortunate ones get the chance to grow and age in between. And the even more privileged ones get a life filled with love, happiness and accomplishment.
What gives our lives meaning in the meantime? Your guess is as good as mine. But I can't help but think it has something to do with the good we've left behind.
This past weekend, a guy named Joe whom I went to high school with was killed in a terrible motorcycle accident. It's jolting to think that someone our age could die.
I feel so alive right now that I just can't conceive how I could be history at any second. I heard my high school graduation song on the radio Tuesday and I started thinking about the day when we all marched onto the field with our caps and gowns on, and how Joe thought he had an entire life ahead of him.
I started thinking about Joe, about life and death and how most of us take it all for granted. And it sounds so cliche, but it's true. We may feel invincible, but really, we're not.
Some people say that death is what gives meaning to life. I suppose a lot of that has to do with when your time is up and what you have done in those years. And so I inevitably started thinking about the age-old question about the meaning of life. I've heard that the meaning of life is to give life meaning. But what does that mean?
You know how sometimes you can look at someone you really care about and just get overwhelmed with the feelings you have in that moment, and it feels like your heart is growing so big that it will fill the room? I think that has something to do with the meaning of life.
Or you know how you stop in your tracks for one reason or another and you start thinking about how this is really it; this is your life.
And whether you like it or not, time is still moving and there's nothing you can do to stop it? And it scares you. You really feel alive in those moments.
Or like it says in the novel "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower": "It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real."
It's almost as if in that very second you not only see your reflection, but you see so much more. And you realize that you are alive in this moment, this is real and you could die anytime, but for now you feel pretty invincible.
Then I think about Joe again. I think about how Joe probably never got to do the things he wanted to with his life and how he probably had his moments in front of the mirror when he felt invincible.
I think about how a second before he made the turn around the corner before the crash, how alive his mind was. I wondered what or whom he was thinking about, or even what his plans were for the next five minutes.
I wonder if there was a flash of anything or anyone before he died. And then I wonder where Joe went after his last breath. And the thing is, I can only wonder.
We each have our own truth, because none of us know for sure. We can only live each day as if it could be our last. And in truth, it very well could be.
Megan Wadding is a junior studying film studies, and can be reached at Megan.Wadding@asu.edu.
