With all the great technological advancements humanity has made, one would think that we have made most of the impossible possible. And right they would be - to a certain extent. But it turns out that the most difficult, almost impossible, and nearly dreadful task that we haven't been able to conquer ... is the self.
There are so many things that continue to plague us, including loneliness and self-doubt. Sometimes it seems like all these hardships come from just being as self-aware as we are. When I say that humans are cursed with consciousness, it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Being conscious cognitively separates us from animals. And although we know that many species of animals have societies of their own, and at least some level of consciousness, we also know that human beings are the most conscious and have the most complex social societies.
It is our brains that have brought us this far as a species, as well as our emotions and our needs. It is almost safe to say that we have reached a point where day to day needs are met for a good number of people. We go to work or school every day, hang out a bit with some friends or family, enjoy hobbies, and go to sleep to do it all over the next day. I know this is the usual for me as well as many others. Yet when the traffic silences and I settle into my bed quite comfortably, I can't help but realize how stuck I am. Sometimes it feels like all this is just a distraction.
It is the strangest feeling. I recognize that I see, hear, smell, touch, and taste something every day. And I know that beneath the skin that I love very much is a complex system of hot organs that are constantly active and functioning to keep me alive. But I can't feel them, or any of the trillions of cells that are zipping around in there.
Sometimes it feels like I am just a voice echoing in walls of a shell. Like in an episode of "Black Mirror," I saw the twist at the end of the story and my eyes were wide open in epiphany. If my shell gets broken, I will cease to be.
In a world where we are avidly conversing with each other every second, and with people far and near, it is easy for one voice in a single shell to get lost in millions of others. It is easy for one voice in a single shell to wish that they were in another - maybe one that others find prettier, or one that gets more attention. It is so easy for a voice in a single shell to get lost on a beach washed with tides in the summer.
That is why it is so important to know that if it seems like there is no one to listen to this single voice, there's always at least one. When it seems like you are drowning in a sea of voices, only mouths, and no ears, know that there is always at least one. You. You must know to love yourself. You must know that sometimes it will be difficult, and it will seem like no one understands you, but you must have hope.
Hope for yourself. Hope for others so that one day they will learn to listen, as well as talk. If you are feeling lonely, trapped in your mind, like a voice in a shell in a swarmed sea, you must know that there is no one who can love you greater, lift you out more and listen better than yourself.
