Until we are shipwrecks

Photo source: https://www.capital.cl/especial-transformacion-digital-cambio-de-chip/

Everyone has been riding on different boats to survive this pandemic as if we are navigating our way to the shore. We are in a vast inexplicable ocean where the water has become lethal to touch, so we lock ourselves in for it is what they deem as the only option. We try to teach ourselves how to steer it, but we always end up following those who said they know because we are desperate to feel the sand touch our feet again and the earthly breeze brush off our faces. And for the countless of times we have asked ourselves, “What can we do?”, we just haven’t figured it out yet. Despite our ignorance to the solution and our inability to grasp its whereabouts, surprisingly, hope remains. We are still hopeful that someday, somehow, we will be able to relive our lives before.

While we remain hopeful of the indeterminate, time allows the waves of the ocean to destroy our boats little by little. Enormous waves come and go without mercy for the misguided settlers. The deep is hungry for shipwrecks, for easy victories, for the lives lost, for the little spark of hope we continue to ignite. Never have we thought of letting it win, but the inevitable is hard to dominate over. This battle is grueling; what we are fighting against is a formidable enemy. We can’t fight it with mere weapons; the ocean won’t even let us swim. We only have our boats which could also turn out unreliable.

The choice we have is to stay indoors, but not everyone has a comfortable and stable deck, some are even lucky to have one. While the rich rest on their yacht with the finest old wine to flow in their throats, the poor are soaking in their only clothes. The fortunate ones can afford to spend their days living the dream boat life while some must struggle to oar the waters. Some people have the privilege to stay inside, and remain unbothered to the tidal waves, but there are people required to expose themselves to the ocean; some are destined to risk like sacrificial offering to Poseidon. While staying indoors gives us tiny assurance of survival, it does not always guarantee safety. Internal conflicts may arise which would lead to violence and unstable minds. And before we knew it, we have already become predators of our sanity. We protect ourselves from the outside, naive of the cunning menaces inside. Everywhere we look, there is danger, like unpredictable tsunamis that can tear our boats into pieces until we are sunken shipwrecks underwater with our hopes, now crushed, floating along with the innocence.

As long as our leaders, the captains of the ships we are following, keep going astray, we will forever be lost-- lost in our thoughts, lost in reality. Until we find the route to the shore, until we manage to perch onto a solid ground, may we continue to kindle, and provide warmth and comfort as we battle against the treacherous sea breeze. May we utilize our own compasses pointing to wherever it's safe for our lives to persist; may we always keep track of our direction and cling to yet clear destination.