A bitter taste

Osman Bien Aime, Staff Writer

There is so much about life that should make us smile and so much to be optimistic about; not that our recent fascination with nihilism and self-destruction has helped anyone see that.

It seems like in the last year the fresh horrors of the world have come thicker and faster than ever before.

Everything is a political issue now, the rejection of nuanced beliefs has made it so no one can agree on anything, and apparently millennials are killing the world.

Plus, everything is too expensive now, and nobody makes enough money to afford anything.

Life apparently sucks so much right now that it has even ruined memes and in-jokes.

Childhood fears of clowns and the boogeyman have metamorphosed into the intangible horror of a miserable, potentially meaningless existence.

As a result, nihilism has become the new brand of junk food humor people indulge in.

The promised zest of youth has dissipated, and like a shot glass filled with Clorox bleach, all that remains is bitter, vomit-inducing swill to suck down.

I get that this is the way we have collectively decided to slap a smiley face on life. The quick and dirty fix to one’s problems will always be to treat them as something to be laughed at.

But, that is where the real bleakness comes from.

Are we all so infatuated with our own dour outlook on life that we have nothing but our own self-flagellation to share with each other?

Everyone has problems. Everyone has things they hate, especially about themselves.

But nurturing one’s positive qualities is a much more constructive way of going about life.

No one should believe their anxieties and failures are all that define them as people.

The things that make one smile and give one hope should be far more important than the things that tear one down.

To be alive is to power forward in search of happiness, in spite of the pain one experiences along the way.

To apathetically raise one’s hands to the heavens and let the illusion of life swirl into a formless, black sludge is at least nine steps back in that regard.