Ergo Sum

It has often been said that you remember things best when you have an emotional attachment to them. Which is why I tend to remember the most of random of things sometimes. I’ll read or hear about something obscure (like the fact that the drug sirolimus was made off a bacteria discovered on the Easter Island statues) and go all ‘whoa’ with intellectual curiosity; and you can be pretty sure that I’ll remember that fact for a fair amount of time.

Unfortunately, other (probably more important facts) might appear inane to me and I’m left not-so-blissfully ignorant of them a few hours after having convinced myself that I’ve thoroughly understood the subject.

The same can be said about the activities that make up the little chapters of your life. Some things just fly by – the daily mundane activities of deciding which shirt to wear, what would taste best after 5 minutes in the microwave or wondering if there is something on the telly that is worth watching.

And then you have the little (or not so little) moments that will burnish forever into your grey matter; bringing a smile or a tear every now and again. And this would range from the seemingly unremarkable like the scent of her hair as she lies down next to you or the unexpected visit of friends to the less sociable events of staring at a relic that was carved hundreds of years before your parents even thought of conceiving you and communicating to those that have gone before you.

I guess the string that is life is made up of these pearls, the various interactions you’ve had with your fellow human beings that you hold dear to you. And some of these interactions you hold closer to your heart than others, as you come to a point of realisation that life is almost meaningless without it.

And so you plough on despite the obstacles that appear seemingly out of nowhere. You clamber above the hurdles, discarding the self-pity that might rise like bile at the back of your throat. You fight for what you believe in, because at the end of the day, life is all about that interaction between two people. And at the end of the day, you need a reason to get out of bed and live.