Like Tears in the Rain

"All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain."

There are almost 7 billion other people in the world, and every single one of them is doing something right now. Sleeping, eating, running. Crying, dying, waiting. Discovering, inventing, destroying. Something. All these people have their own complexities, secrets, emotions, stories, problems, dreams. Every single one.

Each of us does things every day that few will ever know. After each of us is gone, these things will be lost, swept away like particles of dust, never to be known or thought of at night while drifting off to sleep.

Isn’t that amazing? Gone. Like that. Without any notice.

I’m beginning to realize that this is exactly why I want to get out into the world and see things for myself. It’s a matter of somehow understanding (or beginning to understand) the human experience. Right now people are doing things that I will never see in ways that I don’t understand for reasons I cannot comprehend. I won’t begin to know anything about other people if I do not meet them, live with them, and learn from them. It’s actually really similar to the idea of being in college and living with peers, just in a different setting surrounded by different people. (Okay, maybe a little different)

Today in my Archaeology class my professor showed us the scene from Blade Runner featuring the quote from above.

"All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain."

I found it to be quite profound, yet melancholy. Melancholy because I realize that we’re all more than tears in the rain and our experiences and feelings are incredibly significant to each of us, regardless of how they may appear to others when inspected with a critical and comparing eye.

Does any of this have value? I guess it depends upon what ‘value’ means. When reduced to economic terms, it probably has very little, if any at all. Does it matter to our society? On the surface, it seems not, but I think there is much more to be understood. It matters to me. It offers a sense of social memory, perspective, and worth, and that’s what’s important, right?

til next time.