Creating at the End of A World
This concept has been stuck in my head for months. Because, for nearly a year, it’s been clear to me that the world has been ending. Honestly, if we’re being real, the world has been ending for a while, it’s just that media has started to really catch up on the reporting.
And, for me, it’s made it hard to know how or what to create. I don’t think this is the end of the world like we see in apocalypse movies or the end of the world where all people are going to be wiped out in one fell swoop. But it is definitely the end of a world that I’ve been living in since I grew up. It’s scary. It’s also, hopefully, potentially, beautiful.
Even in the midst of not knowing where my place is in the changing tides, I’m drawn towards creating. A lot of that has looked like live streams where I share games with my community. It’s not lost on me that a lot of the games that I’ve played over the last couple of years have had themes of loss or grief in them. I’ve been processing dealing with the loss of the person I thought I would be, the loss of opportunities, the loss of stability, and a loss of confidence in myself. And yet, I still want to create. In the face of all this loss and confusion and grief, there’s some spark within me that’s still craving to create something to throw out into the void.
Over the years, the importance of arts and storytelling has only grown. Without stories, people can’t imagine a new way of existing. Without art, there’s no way to help folk visualize a future where things are different. Without sharing our experiences, there’s no way for us to know we aren’t alone.
What I’ve found is that having hope for a different future can be as scary as trying to exist in the not great present. But I believe it’s still our duty to dream about and start building towards that beautiful unknown world. We have to create because it’s only through building something new that we actually have a chance to make it through this world ending. Systems that are torn down will need to be replaced with new ways of existing that allow more of us, all of us, to thrive. And, without the imagination of artists and creators and ordinary folk who dare to think about a different world, we won’t be able to grow towards that.
So it’s hard, I know. But creating at the end of a world is what we’re meant to do. Find what you’re best at creating. I write and play video games, sometimes I make videos or help folk learn something new. It’s what I’m good at. Your thing might be (probably is) something wildly different. You might be excellent at math and figuring out new ways to distribute resources, it might be drawing or sculpting or creating digital 3D art. It might be a different farming or hyping people up or creating spaces for folk to recharge. It might be baking or cooking or sharing a cup of tea and a quiet moment with the people around you. We all have a piece of creating a better future. I know it’s scary, trust me. But take a chance? Come and create a world for us together?
