Letters Home: Section 1, Letter dated August 13

August 13
Katrina,



Life is a cornucopia, moments of pleasure and hopefulness blended with moments of learning and sorrow; a complex gathering of all emotions, positive and negative, all parts blending together in harmony so that there are equal parts of each existing in the mix, allowing for a true experience of all. Even the hermit, void of human contact and hiding in the deepest recesses of the darkest cavern cannot escape life, though he may avoid parts of it. Life is inescapable because being alive requires life to be experienced, whether it be the human feeling the warmth of the sun, a tree being cooled by the water of a nearby creek on his roots, or an animal hearing the crunch of a nut as he chews. Life is all about us.



Do we take advantage of the opportunities life grants us? Do humans respect life or do we mock it, trying to alter the factors that we don’t like until they’re no longer noticeable, becoming scientific, controlled, and artificial?



Here we are, on the dawn of a new century, a new millennium, and life is vastly different from when we were children. Farming is easier now, machines existing in place of some of the hard labor, and computers often dictate planting seasons and the choice of crop. Medicines are much improved, but are more costly and doctors no longer make house calls or take patients on credit. Insurance rules the medical field that compassion and instinct used to rule. Work is now completed by computers; no one adding or subtracting without those tiny machines, no one keeping data in their head, no one keeping tabs of money spent or money earned or money owed on a notebook kept in a desk drawer. It’s a different world. Some changes have been for the better and some I’m not so sure about.



We’ve come so far this century, learning so much about the physical sciences, such as medicine and astronomy, and the social sciences, such as psychology. Women now stand equal to men. Education has received more of the focus and importance it deserves. Nearly every household now has electricity and indoor plumbing. Why, our century saw the invention of the television and the popularity of the car. It was in our century when the first shuttle landed on the moon and King Tut’s tomb was found. How exciting!



But, have we lost part of our humanity in what we’ve defined as progress? We disgrace the trees upon the land by plowing them down, ignoring their purposefulness and the stamina that allowed them to grow old. Architecture, which used to be a proud endeavor, now seems to be limited to cold, concrete, tall city businesses; the intricate detail of design reflecting personality no longer easy to find except in structures built long ago. We seem to be more interested in finishing projects quickly than well, the fine art of craftsmanship seemingly vanishing. And, worst of all, though families used to care for their elderly, respecting their wisdom and seeing to their needs, families now tend to push them away, disrespecting the experiences of aged lives, refusing to learn from their failures and successes, placing them in cold, anonymous facilities that seem void of independence and void of home. We were lucky, Sister, to have the money to buy our freedom of choice.



If we’ve made mistakes in this century, the Earth is now pregnant and about to birth a new century, a new opportunity for all to make positive changes for the future. Although I know that we won’t be a part of it, I do wish well for the future of this great planet. I hope that science continues to find medicines and cures for illnesses and diseases that continue to devastate the world. I pray that the human race will learn more about each other, about protecting each other, about protecting the right for people to be who they want to be. I pray that the human race will learn to respect the Earth, the animals, all of nature, and to learn to live peacefully with these elements instead of attempting to rule over them, control them. We all must work together, and when we do balance and harmony will result. And, I hope that wars will end and that peace will be known.



It was raining when I began this letter, Kat, Heaven’s tears washing over the Earth to cleanse it, washing away mistakes and allowing the Earth a new opportunity to try again. And, now, as the sun begins to glance over a rainbow to see if its time to shine, I think there shall truly be a second chance, a new opportunity for change. Life is an opportunity for change.



Always,
Christina




This work is fictional. Any resemblance to actual situations or persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.