Manifesto for Life

So here I am.

Lakes didn’t boil over.

Nobody made any calls on the red phone.

I am still breathing without a gas mask.

People are still falling in love. Soccer is still a national pastime. Dogs are still man’s best friend.

I am writing to you from 2056, and we have evolved quite a bit. There was an era when we believed that time was money, though, and we invested in things that weren’t fulfilling. During that era, when we didn’t talk to our neighbors, we blamed everything on our governments and mistook fame for merit.

Six billion people were all running forward, but they didn’t know where to begin.

You may be wondering how we got here.

It turns out that one day somebody decided to give up on the idea that the most important project in life was to build the highest skyscraper, or a bridge, or a bank account, or a closet.

That person decided to stop looking outward and make the most important project in life another human being. Focusing only on what was most important, on the essentials.

A son, a friend, a significant other.

It was so simple that it was right there before everyone’s eyes, but nobody had seen it until then.

There were no inaugurations, no speeches. It wasn’t shown on the news, and nobody was awarded a medal. There were some parties, though.

They say it all started in somebody’s two-bedroom apartment in a big city.

You may wonder who it was. That’s such a typical question from that era...

But, oh well… I guess I’ll tell you.

It was you.