If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound? Everyone wants to leave there mark on the world, that’s how we prove to ourselves and the generations after that we existed. That’s how we give our lives purpose. But what if you couldn’t?
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” explores the idea of an infinite life, but in that infinity the world will never know or remember Addie. She can leave no mark on the world, no trace of her very existence. She will live forever, she will watch nations rise and fall, she will see wars and world fairs and travel the world. But no one will ever remember her.
Honestly I don’t think I could go 300 years without a soul remembering me. I would have caved, asked the darkness to take my soul and be done with it. I was raised in a very close family, we had dinner together every night, every sunday was family day. Close friends were considered family. I grew up in a small town, which is akin to the idea that “it takes a village”, I had a village of people who were there for me, who looked out for me. I couldn’t imagine having no home, no one to share life with, no one to even remember my name.
Yet Addie survives, she spends 300 years and has only had a handful of moments where she was ready to throw it in. She wanted adventure and knowledge and to not be confined by society’s constructs on women.
I’m not saying make a deal with the devil...don’t do that, he will obviously trick you and screw you over...I mean that’s just a given.
But, why are we so obsessed with leaving a mark, with life having a purpose. Why can our lives not simply be our lives and that be enough? Because the truth of the matter is, Addie did leave a mark, she may not have directly created something that lasted forever and left it’s mark. But Addie influenced people’s ideas. They may not have remembered exactly where an idea came from but it was there, a spark. This is the same way most people leave their mark on the world.
Our marks are not always big and grand, it’s not about how much money we made, or the career we had. Or even the artwork, novels, ideas, we put forth. Yes those leave a large mark, they go down in history, but why? They leave such a large mark because of their power to spark ideas in other people, to create feeling and meaning to other people. Our marks for the general everyday people are so meaningful and yet we never see them. Our marks are the smile we give that random stranger in passing (the stranger no one knew was planning to take their own life). Our marks are the kind words we offer the cashier (who hadn’t heard a kind word all day).
Our marks have power, they have meaning. We don’t need this big life altering “purpose” for our lives to have meaning. Addie was smart, she caught on, she realized that though she couldn’t leave her own mark, spending the night inspiring a musician could result in music. People may not have remembered her, but they remembered the feelings or ideas she sparked, the inspiration that poured out of her.
Addie proved that kindness goes a long way, she may not have been remembered when she left a shop, but the light and happiness she brought in were essential. She offered everyone she met, even if brief a smile, a kind word, a moment of cheer. That is the mark I think we should all strive for.
Keep your goals, keep your ambitions. Leave your mark on the world in any way you see fit. But, in your darkest moments, when you feel crushed by this all consuming pressure to be something great, to leave this big mark on the world. Remember, remember that no matter what “big” marks you leave on the world, you’ve already left so many important marks. Marks that you may never realize, that the people you inspired, the people you offered kindness or joy, may not remember you, your face, your name; but in that moment you offered them everything they needed.
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Invisible_Life_of_Addie_LaRue/vH3LDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Comments
Post a Comment