selected scenes from the end of the world:.

Over lunch today some friends and I were talking about whether doomsday would arrive December 21, 2012 in the Philippines or on the 22nd, since I'm guessing the 2012 phenomenon takes its cue from the Mayan Calendar (i.e. Mexico's timezone).

The exact time and date of the end of the world is not as interesting as the phenomena it brings forth: apocalypse parties, people desperately and/or vainly preparing for whatever cataclysmic events lay ahead, loved ones telling loved ones how much they love each other, former archenemies reconciling... you get the picture?

I guess the end of the world is not all about death and devastation. It might have given you a reason to live and hold on to life, although fruitlessly, for the very first time. Or it could have made you realize how everything important at the moment seems utterly worthless when put in the context of total annihilation.

The deadline at work that you missed won't matter much when you're dead. That argument you had with your significant other after he/she forgot to buy a present for your anniversary seems pointless when you're about to be incinerated to ash by an oncoming meteor. Get the picture?

I guess wanting to survive is part of being human. Unfortunately, when we get stuck in the comfortable rut of routine and when the drone of everyday existence becomes our personal anthem, we begin to dwell on the small things and forget what it truly means to live and, more importantly, what it means to want to live.

So, let's say that hypothetically it is the end of the world tomorrow-- there's less than 24 hours left before humankind gets wiped out by a nuclear holocaust or turned into mindless zombies-- how would you spend the last hours of your life as a living, sentient being? Those last few hours, although leading up to certain doom, will or should better be the best, happiest, most fulfilling time you ever had alive. Now erase the thought of the world ending-- what's keeping you from enjoying life, letting go of the non-essentials and doing the things you really want?

Is it the end of the world where you are yet?

~~~

Image credit: Sunflower Field: original by Junshien