Nerd Church - Didn't the World Already End? (It Happened Before Our Time)

Warning: This post is... one of my weird ones. 

Expect apocalypses, disasters, war, suffering, general doom, and a whole lot of random existential questions.

'You say the ocean's rising—like I give a sh**
You say the whole world's ending—honey, it already did
You're not gonna slow it, Heaven knows you tried
Got it? Good, now get inside'

- Bo Burnham, All Eyes On Me

 

Didn't the world already end?

Over and over and over again?

Didn't it end in 1914? In 1939? In 1945? In 1986? In 1793? In 476?

In so many other years that I don't know about because they haven't permeated the collective consciousness of the West?

(Props to anyone who got every one of those references, btw.)

Hasn't the world been ending - over and over again - since it began?

The wars and the disasters and the pain and the misery?

The fall of civilisation after civilisation?

Yet... we're still here. Still putting those metaphorical feet in front of one another.

In a world that seems increasingly headed towards entropy and destruction, you are here. 

You. Are. Here.

And that means everything.

It's hard, OK?

It's hard to think, right now.

It's hard to keep moving forward.

Aside from the existential dread, the existential tiredness, the general stress and fatigue of everything going to sh** all the goddamn time, the financial stresses are piling up on a lot of us.

Prices are going up, food shortages in some places, supply chain issues, the price of energy.

It seems like we can't do anything - but we are.

Just by being here.

 

'The people rising in the streets, the war, the drought
The more I look the more I see nothing to joke about
Is comedy over?
Should I leave you alone?
'Cause, really who's gonna go for joking at a time like this?
Should I be joking at a time like this?'

- Bo Burnham, Comedy 

Didn't the world already end?

We're several apocalypses in by this point, right?

I want to tell you something I hope you've heard before: you're awesome.

Even - and especially - if you don't believe it.

Even - and especially - if you're struggling with your mental health.

You're awesome. You are a rockstar. Honestly, you are unbelievable in all the best of ways.

'The world is increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn’t very good for the economy. If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more? [...] To be calm becomes a kind of revolutionary act. To be happy with your own non-upgraded existence. To be comfortable with our messy, human selves, would not be good for business.'

- Matt Haig, Reasons To Stay Alive 

Didn't the world already end?

I think it happened before we were born - before our time came around.

Armageddons so cinematic that they make movies about them, again and again.

Snatch every attempt at happiness you can.

Each and every moment of joy - of life - is a victory.

The systems we've built do not want us to be happy.

So when you can (and Lord knows, there are so many times when you can't) - take advantage of it.

'My feet are aching
And your back is pretty tired
And we've drunk a couple bottles, babe
And set our grief aside
The Papers say it's doomsday
The button has been pressed
We're gonna nuke each other up boys
'Til old Satan stands impressed'

- Matt Maltese, As The World Caves In

'Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'

- Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night 

Didn't the world already end?

People suffering, bombs, food shortages.

Throughout time, someone's world has always been ending.

That doesn't mean we should just let it happen.

That the world's poisons should be allowed to grow until they overtake and incorporate us.

We should always push for love, for justice, for equality, for safety, for life.

I know this post might seem like empty platitudes interspersed with intermittent doomsaying and seemingly conflicting quotes - I hope it doesn't, but there's always a chance it will

And that's OK. 

I realise this is a slight mess - I'm used to be messy across the internet, it happens.

But sometimes things link in my brain like this - it is what is. I blame the universe, to be honest.

'You've got to make a choice

If the music drowns you out

And raise your voice

Every single time they try and shut your mouth'

- My Chemical Romance, SING

I believe in what I'm saying here, in my imperfect way - there is always hope, and we are amazing simply for being here.

I have to believe in hope and resilience.

Because without the hope to cling to, without the appreciation of how effing much we have been through - all of us - in the utter clusterf**k that has been life since 2020 -

(or before, depending where you decide to put the line between 'mostly f**ked' and 'what holy hell is this?',) 

- what is there?

So cling. 

Cling with the very tips of your fingernails. 

Cling by the skin of your teeth. 

Hope for a better tomorrow and be proud - proud - of the very fact that you are still here.

'When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.'

 

'An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.'

- Both quotes: (Holocaust survivor) Victor E Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning

Didn't the world already end?

Aren't we already the survivors of centuries - of millennia - of inhumanity?

A celtic knot has no beginning and no end - because they are one and the same.

Honestly - this is one of those 'blame the universe - it told me to write it' kind of posts. I don't even know what happened. 😅

If you've got any idea what to say after all that - then talk to me! 😊💬

You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page

Other posts that the universe made me write:

• Nerd Church - Short Story: Girl, Alone

• Nerd Church - Of Monster, Mice, and Men

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