I’m currently reading World War Z and I’ve been reminded of a
pretty cool history prof I had in college. At the start of our semester with
him, he required us to submit index cards with our names, year and major. At
the back, we needed to answer this question: If there was a zombie apocalypse, where would you hide
and what skill do you have now will keep you alive?
Having been a fan of Left
4 Dead, I took that one very seriously. I
found, not surprisingly, that there was nothing much that would help me
survive. I was a math major. I could run, but not very fast. I don’t have
extended training in martial arts and my ability to survive in the wilderness
was primarily based on common sense.
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| Survival 101: Stay away from zombies and make your own food. GIF Source: hellogiggles.com |
Depending on my mood, the answer differs. But if it’s in a
time when I’m particularly stressed or tired, the thought of a world where
things go back to their very basic form is exceptionally exciting.
Imagine if you were a one of the people trying to survive a
zombie apocalypse in World War Z, a man of Gondor in Lord
of the Rings, one of the medieval knights whose major
concern is protecting the code of chivalry and your kingdom, a wizard at the
peak of Harry Potter’s war with Voldemort,
or a Narnian trying to fight the White
Witch. These people were situated in a time where choices were with
much less gray areas. They pick a side: good or bad, live or die (sometimes the
side is picked for them) — then they go to war and fight. And if they get
killed in the process, then that’s it. Game over.
No reports, no computers, no smartphones, no loans and
mortgages, no financial and stock markets. Just them trying to escape with their
lives or being able to fight for whatever/whoever they choose to stand with.
To be honest, I would probably die in all those stories. What
I’m good at are not very useful against the undead and most weapons, medieval
or otherwise. I seriously doubt knowing finance and math would be very helpful
if a zombie’s trying to eat me. But I honestly would love to be in their place.
Times like this, when I let my mind wander freely this way, I
begin to completely understand why many opt to leave their seemingly wonderful
lives behind to go off to mountains, forests or oceans, completely divested of
what they once had.
The world that we are all in now is so convoluted that so many
of us get burnt out at such a young age. It’s a world where you have to deal
with living in a system that thrives in its complexity. We have created jobs,
systems and devices for the strangest and smallest things. To maintain a
perceived level of success that you have achieved, you have to abide by so many
spoken and unspoken rules – and keep up with so many updates on those rules. We have added
layer upon layer of processes on things that could be straightforward. And,
worse, we have resorted to overthinking our own lives so much just to be able
to dig through the rubble and find what’s in the very core of our existence.
There are so many wants that we may have overlooked needs.
Life could be simpler.
No profound conclusion for me this week. Just a wish for
simplicity. I’m still in a life that is inevitably lived in a complicated and I
don’t see myself leaving it soon. Partly because I can’t leave it unless I die.
Mostly because I think there’s hope in and purpose for all of this. I have
enough people surrounding me who has proven to me that giving up is not the
only option.
It’s a race to many, and I could not disagree. But maybe I can
run the race differently.
______________________________
P.S.
The history professor is Brian Giron. He has a very nice
answer to where he would hide.
I’m pretty sure he would survive said invasion.
But I don’t think I could divulge it here.
It would spoil the surprise for
those who will be taking his class. If you want to know, ask us directly.
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