I am reminded of something extraordinary almost everyday whenever I utilize the internet. Depression thrives in the bodies of the forgetful. It’s no wonder that we covenant to remember. Sometimes, no matter where I am, I stop what I’m doing and take great pause in the fact that I have a near endless array of information all before me. It’s in the very air, it seems. With a few clicks I can have any book I want. In a couple of moments I can learn about any topic. With some hard work I can pursue and excel in any field. And with a tilt of my head I have the stars in their endless glory, ever stirring wonder and stoking the fire of my imagination.
Depression has plagued me for nearly as long as I can remember and it has caused my spirit great fatigue, yet, because of it I have learned to see through glasses of grey, and I have been obliged to look at the world in a unique light. I count it as a blessing because so thoroughly, so unendingly and unceasingly it has reminded me that this place is not only beautiful but also filled with endless opportunity to stretch my mind in pursuit of some previously unknown truth. I have the near entire body of human knowledge before me, I have a voice to share my thoughts, I have a universe to learn from and a world to influence the ways in which I see appropriate, and I have friends and family moments away, no matter where I am. Perhaps the hardest thing isn’t doing without, but learning to see the immense good that floods over our lots daily and what on earth we are to do with it all.
Since the day I learned of the great Library of Alexandria and the destruction that befell it, I have steadily gained greater appreciation for information and the mediums it is transmitted in. I am inspired and filled with amazement by those, who in ancient times, traveled from around the world to study in its great rooms filled with papyrus scrolls and codices—Euclid, Eratosthenes, and Hypatia to name a few. I’ve wondered where we, as humans of planet Earth, would be at this time had not such a devastating fire swept through its rooms and destroyed an unknown amount of precious information. In truth I’ve often found myself quite indignant that we aren’t spreading throughout the solar system by now. Just think where we could be culturally and scientifically had such an immense loss of literature somehow been prevented. I am filled with wonder and regret whenever I read the work of ancient authors who cite other authors and use information which can be traced back to The Library, but otherwise remains inexistent. I’d say it’s near unfathomable to begin to attempt to predict where we could be, as I’m sure that not one person could have known such an advance in technology within the last few hundred years would have happened the way it did, and even within the last twenty. We may not be able to predict what the next great invention will be or what societal injustice will be blotted out of our moral landscape because of the hard work of concerned men and women of this great world. But surely we can continue to act in such a way that allows for the exponential growth of knowledge, compassion, and justice, allowing the seeds of inspiration to blossom in their ever unique and magnificent ways.
How can it be that I, quite the average person, sit here typing away on an expensive laptop, worrying about what kind of food I’d like to eat in the next hour, comfortable in my room with the ability to travel to any place in the world within 24 hours should I so decide while there remain people starving in countries where clean water is a precious resource. With all of the vices and mind numbing plots plaguing the internet and despite its near endless supply of cat videos, it is, indeed, quite the miracle that empowers almost everyone. How can there be, for all intents and purposes, millions if not billions of individuals who currently live better than most Kings and Royalty throughout history and still live in a world where people lack the most basic essentials for life. Have we not taken everything we have for granted? I dread the day that we are humbled. Should our modern day Library of Alexandria go offline, how many of us would weep, not for the loss of our entertainment, or for the vices that have a stranglehold over our hearts, but of the near entire body of human knowledge and the power that that knowledge endows? It would be a day to weep.