Have you ever seen the surface of a lake at night? It is as smooth as glass, and it reflects the night-cloaked world like a great mirror. Have you ever wondered why something as plain as a lake appears so beautiful to us?
It is the same reason why the empty blue sky, a lush green field, or even good handwriting seem so beautiful too. This is because we find the uniformity pleasing. Anything unbroken, uninterrupted or unwavering is appealing to us because the state of equilibrium that these things reflect is what we desire to achieve. Through everything, after everything, we hope for a position of stability and peace.
We seek comfort, and until we are able to create it for ourselves, we grab small pieces of it from nature and our surroundings.
Perhaps, this is where our greatest error lies. Perhaps, instead of comfort and equilibrium, what we should be searching for, is change. We should not be admiring the beauty of a still lake, but instead casting stones right into the centre of the body until we create ripples that are large enough to form waves on the shore. We must cast as many stones as is needed to make waves large enough to drench and wake those who are in a deep slumber of unawareness.
We are young people who have been given the world to hold in our hands. The world, however, is not perfect. Do we hold it gently and spectate quietly as every fault and crack grows, afraid of disrupting, afraid to start something we cannot finish? Or, do we crush it all and reshape it into something that is beautiful in a true way?
Recently, I discovered the phenomenon of Oxbow lakes. Oxbow lakes are bodies of water that form when a river begins to flow through a shorter, easier course. When this occurs, a curve that had previously been part of the river’s path of flow is cut off from the river, resulting in an isolated, U-shaped body of water. Since Oxbow lakes do not have any source to feed them with water, they usually end up drying gradually as all their contents evaporate. So, a great piece of a river that has been serving its part for years and years may suddenly find itself isolated and fading away, simply because the river, like all things, chose a path that did not require it to meander or move farther than required.
We are all rivers too. We often choose to stay in our lane, walk the easiest path and not be disruptive in any way. However, when we learn to live in this manner, we are leaving pieces of the world to fade away and die. We are leaving problems to grow and fester into something that will burden our future generations. By believing that an undisturbed world is the same thing as a peaceful world, we are choosing indifference over compassion.
Our people and our world have begun to give our youth a chance to speak and be heard. We have been given a chance to lead, to react and to make a change that can last. It is now in our hands to either continue waiting, or start acting.
