A Letter from Myself in 2030
The weakness of our generation lies within the manner in which we treat our present. The more you reach for your dreams, the further you slide away from those around you. You are part of a society that has yet to learn how to skillfully cooperate and build genuine inter-human relations. Prioritize the factors of your life that you have the knowledge and capability of altering; not those that your Utopian dreams are founded on. Aim high yet simultaneously create an achievable course of action.
When I was younger, I envisioned 10 years to be a humongous amount of time. Not only was it simply impossible for my seven-year-old imagination to create a realistic vision of the future, but also, that same seven-year-old imagination, was running wildly further and further away from the realm of possibility. Don’t allow yourself to mingle too much on the past, nor dream too much about the future. The present has always been the one that held the most power; I was oblivious to it, taking the status quo for granted and rarely pushing for change. My world today is different – we don’t base our dreams on time; we build them so they surpass time.
Time. This invaluable, priceless concept that we – as humans – can’t seem to live without. I ask you to ignore this superficial, humanly-fabricated concept. This one hypothetical value that appears so indispensable is exactly the one that you must disregard. You see, time – or more precisely, the lack of it – is what prevents you from achieving the things that you have the potential of achieving. Age and time are the two factors that should be on our side yet always manifest themselves as our enemies. This stereotyped societal norm that we so thoroughly abide by has facilitated external control of our society. Time is a luxury that you can no longer afford and is the exact same luxury I learned to obliterate.
Don’t keep procrastinating on your hopes and aspirations believing tomorrow will offer you the opportunity of achieving greater change. There is no greater change than the one you can achieve today. Have faith in those human rights petitions you so eagerly plan out yet never complete. We blame society, yet we are society. The power to achieve the change you want lies within you. Heraclitus defined change as the only constant in life. Create that constant for yourself. It’s been 10 years now, and yet it seems as if I’m writing this for yesterday; so little has changed.
Value education. Believe in the power of the individual. This is the constant that you can realistically add variables to during your lifetime. The mere power of mankind lies within your individuality. Your world is on the path of making both education and uniqueness dissipate thus facilitating the control of masses and obliterating the potent strength of knowledge. The importance of this now state-controlled institution will provide the foundation of a better future. My society has manufactured knowledge into something that I, myself, can pass along without relying on external forces. I can easily recall the disastrous infrastructural and human costs of the global pandemic you are currently caught in the midst of. There is no healthy Utopia to look forward to, however, by prioritizing the spread and development of education your world has the mental power to resurface successfully time and time again.
The world in 2020 was damaging in front of our eyes. The technological advancements that we so proudly valued came with significant collateral cost: environmental destruction. My world managed to comprehend the value of both time and education and today, we give back to mother nature more than what we take away from her. You’ve evolved enough; now it’s time to heal the wounds of this planet that you left behind on your path. Focalize engineering and technological developments on the processing of clean water, on balancing CO2 percentages, on increasing global sanitation and health-care.
My world has learned to breathe again; it’s time for yours to do so too.
Prioritize human and environmental prosperity.
Change today so that you can still have the power to change tomorrow.
By Laura Ionescu
Editor-in-Chief at hARTS
hARTS magazine 