Watcher

A bit of introspective philosophy.

I am a thinker.

I am a listener.

I am a doer.

But mostly, I am a watcher.

 

I am the person that sits upon the park bench and watches the people go by. I am the person that reads books simply to spy upon the characters within. I am the person that delves into movies and television to find the secret to every relationship humans are capable of having. I am the wind, occasionally sweeping someone up in a tornado, but usually just flowing lightly through the lives of those around me, sometimes unnoticed but nearly always there. Typically, however, also like the wind, I am most remembered when I am not there and the only thing that lingers is an unpleasant sensation that something is missing. That someone is not there.

 

Maybe I think that I am more powerful than I am. I sometimes wonder how long it would take people to forget me if I were to step out of life completely. Not that I ever would, mind, but I still hypothetically wonder. If I were to take myself out of the picture today, how long would the traces I leave linger? I could lie to myself and say that they would last until the people who I touched died – I might even let my ego take complete control and say that they would pass my legacy onto those they touch and that somehow I could live on for generations – but why should I waste my time? I haven’t done anything that no one else could. I haven’t saved a life that couldn’t have been saved in another way; I haven’t caused a chain reaction that couldn’t have been begun by someone else’s hand. In the view of the world, I am as insignificant as a brick in a wall or dust in the wind. I won’t underestimate myself either, however. I know that I have saved a life and made an impact, and that those people would remember me for a while if I were to disappear. It may even be difficult for some to go on at first, but time will go on without my influence, and their wounds will become bearable and fade until they are just a distant memory. I won’t pass over the bridge into the next generation because I won’t even stay in the thoughts of those who care about me most.

 

And neither will most of you. As a watcher, I have come to the conclusion that humans tend to make themselves much more important than they truly are. In an attempt to justify their life and glorify their impact upon the world, they tell themselves that they will be remembered, that they will be loved, long after they are gone, that the path they walked today will be followed and become the beginning of a new trail for as long as humans walk this earth. But any other person could have walked that path. They are all as insignificant as I am.

 

But anything – even insignificance – makes an impact en masse. One individual’s insignificance is, well, insignificant, but combined with the insignificance of hundreds – of thousands – it makes a mark, and marks are always significant. Perhaps I am merely a brick, but when combined with thousands of other bricks, we make a wall strong enough to withstand any attack. Maybe I’m just a speck of dust, but when caught in the wind with other specks, we become a sandstorm that can tear anything down. So now I say that we should never tear down the impact of one individual, because that one person may be able to rally hundreds or thousands and change the course of the world.

 

It always starts with one and snowballs into many. Maybe I cannot be the one that starts the fight, but I can be one who joins and inspires others to join. I do not have to have my name live on for my legacy to survive forever. All I have to do is join the cause.

Reviews

[Kena Dawn Augustine]

I am a thinker.

I am a listener.

I am a doer.

But mostly, I am a watcher.



this intro pulled me in. a very powerful short story. i can see you are really wise and have smart things to say, and it's good to have that wisdom told to us sometimes. anyway, good job. sorry i couldn't say more.

kena