Earlier this week, in a Zoom meeting (where else), I was discussing policy text. Fun! 🙂 Given the quite bland language expected in this conversation, we were all startled by the use of the word “ephemeral” in one of the sentences, to indicate that one policy concerned a temporary reality.
I think the word is beautiful, a “ten points word”, as one of my interlocutors called it and that it defines a quality of life’s challenges that we should keep in our forefront in order to survive.
When I was ten years old I threw a stone and broke a window. I was sure I had to run away from home because my life was entirely ruined and I was not going to be able to redeem myself. Ever. When I was thirteen, my middle school crush did not give me the time of day and I was sure that I would never love anyone again. When I was seventeen, I parted with the person I loved at the time to spend a year abroad and I was precise about the fact that this was not going to be something I could survive. In my thirties, during my first nervous breakdown I was sure my struggle was never going to go away, divorcing, I was convinced the struggle would never end.
Well, guess how many of the above still dwell over me today? You guessed right, none. I am now able to look back and feel detached and, if I am smart, remember what I learned.
Survival these days for me relies very much on the reminder that, as with everything in life, the nature of our present worldwide challenge is ephemeral. Even though we know not when, at one point in our lives we will look back and if we are smart, remember the lessons.
Photo by Juan Gomez on Unsplash
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