The Illusion of Permanence

We spend a lot of time trying to preserve the illusion of permanence.
I haven’t given it a lot of thought over the years – a luxury of youth and a culture of denial, I’m sure. But let’s face it, I’m getting on in years, and the evidence of our transience is poking its head out at me more and more.
This feeling isn’t particularly new. Over the years, I’ve seen buildings come down and be replaced. Sections of Europe, Africa and Asia have changed names and borders drastically since I used to draw maps for fun in my teens. People I’ve known are gone from my life, either because they’ve moved, or gone through some more permanent change of status.
And to think – this has all been brought front of mind because our dog Katy is dead.
I know nothing in our world is permanent, but you can’t go through life without assuming that SOMETHING that’s here now is going to be here tomorrow. I’ve known for over a year that Katy was going to be gone “soon”, but how soon, no one could actually KNOW. I trust our vet enough that it’s not TOO farfetched to consider trusting him with MY OWN LIFE (you may not realize this, but veterinarians have to go through more schooling than your usual doctor), but we asked him when Katy was 12 how much longer she had, and he thought maybe a year of 2. She made it 4 more.
I had to approach those 4 years as though Katy was going to be around “forever” to all intents and purposes. When it was time to buy her food, I went with the usual 6 month supply – I didn’t say “You know, she might be dead in a month – let’s just buy 1 week at a time.” Same with her medications.
Part of the bio I have included in my various postings, ePublications, and even my physical POD books on Createspace, mention our “nine-pound westie who…” keeps us all in line, or some such thing. I did this without considering that all these things would be out there with information that was no longer valid. The evidence that neither Katy, nor anything else lasts forever is everywhere.
So, even by trying to pretend that nothing will pass, our efforts to ignore mortality just help to bring it home even more. But then, how else could we achieve anything as human beings, or leave a legacy, if we didn’t persist in this illusion that somehow, what we leave behind will last forever. What would be the point?
Just saying….

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William Mangieri’s writing can be found in many places, including:

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