I don't know about you, but I'm addicted to watching TikTok videos. There's a recent trend where people show a picture of themselves posing as if someone was with them. The video then cuts to an image where the person was actually there.
This sequence is emotionally edited to a segment from Sleeping At Last's song, "Touch".
The haunting lyrics are sung while you watch people show the loss of their friends and lovers say, "Oh God, I want to feel again."
You can watch a compilation of videos featuring this trend here.
I've seen many variations on the trend, from people demonstrating the destruction of drugs in another's life, to remembering a dog that recently died. Essentially, this is the sad pet commercial on steroids.
This trend made me realize how much I've been taking the people in my life for granted. I started reading the comments on some of the videos -- and I was moved by the number of people who had recently lost someone close to them whether because of drugs, an accident, or suicide.
The comments I saw were all from people around my age or in their mid-twenties.
It broke my heart realizing that death at a young age isn't as uncommon as we'd like to believe. This trend made me realize I've become a victim to the ideology of invincibility. And it wasn't even my own invincibility I was clinging to, but rather the belief that I'd always wake up to another day with my friends.
The world is rather surreal right now. Some days I forget there's a pandemic until I'm harshly reminded the moment I open the news or go to a grocery store. The current times makes connecting with others difficult.
In my late night thoughts, I began to wonder if there was anything I left unsaid to any friend or relative.
If they died tomorrow, what would I have wished I told them today? Though we can't live our lives in fear, it's time to remember that tomorrow is never promised.
No matter how young or healthy we are, there is nothing that says we have more time. If those videos made you as emotional as they did me, tell that person you love them. Tell your friend what they mean to you. Find closure with the person you have conflict with. Rub your dog's belly a little longer tonight.
Don't wait to do these things.
