10.04.2008

Just a Little Ant

My Dad finally bought some ant traps.

Normally I might be against the traps, but this year the ants chose to create chaos. I mean, you can see the masses of tiny bodies swarming up the columns of the front porch – trying to slyly sneak in the windows. They'll crawl along zigzag – starting to go one way, and then instantly deciding the other way looks better. It’s like they have a little creek to follow, with its own twists and turns, ups and downs. They’ll bump into each other like boats, and then back up, keep going. Yeah, they love to keep life exciting.

But even though the ants are crawling all over, it’s so easy to get rid of them. Of course - most of us know that. I mean, it’s no big deal: we step on them & they’re dead, right? Seriously, it’s not that hard to crush a bug - or swat an annoying fly.

But have we ever thought how easy it is to bring them to life? Kill an ant and it's dead forever, it’ll never come back – do we ever think of that? Of course it’s just an ant, but that’s why it’s amazing. Something so small, yet once we kill it, it’s gone, and we can’t even bring it's life back. We have such power over death sometimes. But that’s the reason we have to be so cautious over that authority - because we don’t have such a power over life.

And on a bigger scale, look at us. It can be so easy to die: crashes, poison, diseases, guns, knives, etc. Humans have the power to kill & and humans can be easy to kill. But how dare anyone kill for no reason, especially since when someone’s dead, they’re dead. They can’t be brought back to life – the same person, the same personality, the same time. It's crazy how some people abuse this, but it’s just because they don’t understand.

When I was younger, I heard all the time about people dying. “Three people died this morning in a fatal car crash,” the emotionless radio would tell me, or “Hundreds died in a gun fight” in another country, the journalist would write. And I’d be like, okay. They died. I don’t know them, they’re people - faceless people - and they’re far away.

But, if I really thought about it, I’d be amazed at how strangely terrible the news was that I heard. I mean, I’d imagine that people who died in the news, were people I knew. One was the loyal friend; always there for me, the other had the biggest heart, another always joking around & lighting up the dullest party. And if we think about hearing people die, if we imagine them like that, we can grasp reality just a bit more. Someone’s gone who will never come back, that unique personality lost forever. We need to recognize what power we have over death.

Because life – it’s so precious.

(let me know what you think!)

16 comments:

--Emilyyy-- said...

Wow.


See I'd right this big, long, emotional, deep comment but with all the stuff you put it made me begin to think anbout it all and I've concluded that the only rational thing to put would be "wow" cause the post is so... wow.

Jaerixon said...

Life is not precious, it is a precious opportunity. When we are first born we begin getting hit with all these choices to determine who we are and how valuable our life is. Most make the right choices, but there are a few who do not. These people abuse the opportunity of living, and if they begin to impede on the opportunities of others to live and be happy and successful, I do not view there life to be “precious”. For instance, Hitler, he was a man who made such extremely wrong choices, if you viewed his life as precious today, people would think you're psychotic. If a person ever threatened my family with death, I would not give a second thought in killing that man to protect the ones that are dear to me. This world is a world of choice, and whenever you make a choice, you should expect to be held accountable for your choices. Every action holds a consequence.

However, I do agree that we should think about what it means when someone really dies, and should consider the consequences of it (though I think we should weigh the consequences in every action, great or small). Killing and violence in general, are things that I have deemed unjustifiable, as every conflict can be worked out peacefully and mentally.

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. – Joseph Stalin

loony lyssie said...

You really make me think with all these blog posts.
Honestly, it opens my eyes.
I don't think I'll ever crush another bug again.
You're always the inspiration Mariposa.
Keep on posting (:

Anonymous said...

I think it's noble of you to attempt to think of lives lost, whether in war, natural catastrophes, freak accidents, as if they were friends, or people you knew. Because it is so easy to become accustomed to say, oh another 50 people killed in Iraq--ok--a few thousand in an earthquake, glad that's not here. Because these tragedies happen with such frequency and modern media allows the world to learn of it almost instantaneously, you would think that people would become more compassionate. But I think there's a limit to grief, and it's easy to tune such things out. I agree life is precious and that we don't respect the lives of animals enough. That's not to say that I'm a vegetarian! Which may be a selfish decision, but I think people need to respect their food more, the sources, and also look into the ways these animals were treated during their lives. Furry animals with large eyes (ie, cute mammals) seem to have more of an effect on me, perhaps because I can identify with them. Like: when there's a mouse in my apartment, I just want it to find it's way out, back to someone else's garbage can. But when there's a roach, I immediately try to strike it. Do you think this favoritism is fair? Well, even if it's not, we do have to protect our safety and belongings, and say, the ants on the pillars, if not treated, could destroy them...

Kyle Hendricks said...

Oh great, now I'll feel guilty whenever I squish a bug.
It makes you think. What will one person's choice do that will affect me? Will Bill hurt Mary, and then Mary will be rude to me, and I'll be rude to James?
Be happy, and others will be too.

Romans 12:2 said...

Good post. What if the people I knew and loved were the ones anounced in the news? I thought about that, and it did give me a better perspective of it. Obviously, death is horrible, but it was different when I thought about people special to me, in place of the ones announced in the news. - Bob

Bronte said...

aw thats ..wow..

Bronte said...

thanks for the comments!
aw thats so true
like life isnt just a game
its not win or loose there or gone yes or no
its special
one shot and its gone
aw goood post :)
!!!!!!!!!!

Jenn said...

I didn't even know they made ant traps?

While human life is precious, are individual ants' lives precious? I think that is a hard question.

I don't know if I could ever truly believe that they are. When you step on an ant, there are always ten more not far away. Would anyone really care about them, unless someone magically found a cure for cancer inside them? Comparing the lives of ants and humans is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Unless these figurative apples contribute to the quality of life of the oranges somehow, they are pretty much never going to be valued individually.

PhilO♥ said...

Heya...
..u know what?? your thinking is so different..so wonderful! your posts really touch my heart!! your post was amazing..as usual..just became your follower! :) keep blogging!

jEeRo said...

yEs its true when some-one died he/she is gone 4ever..but he/she is still very much alive..in your memories of him/her..in your heart..have u thought about it this way?..
keep on writing gal!..cuz your blog makes people think on things we usually over-look..or pretend not to see..

loony lyssie said...

Thanks for the comment (:
It cheered me up.
People have mostly forgotten about it I guess.
Nobody really mentioned it when I went to school the next day, so I'm fine (:
Thanks so much though.

milai said...

just a little ant that is not so little at all...

hmmm... your post got me thinking. what power do we really have over death? for after all it is inevitable.

i guess our only power lies in our living life to the fullest that if death comes to us, we know that we have not lived our lives in vain.

as for the faceless and nameless people who have died and we only read in the news or heard on the radio, we can offer them our prayers.

as for murderers who take the lives of others on a whim, they too are in need of our prayers.

life is precious... and death can sometimes seem senseless especially if we lost a loved one to a crime.

our lives are interwoven and hopefully, we can all work on making our lives well-lived.

am thinking of "ripple effect." something little may not be too little for others. it will go a long way, may even change the life of someone.

little things are not too little, after all.

Jaerixon said...

Well the thing is, a person's life is precious until they act to change that. From my point of view, a murderer's life is not precious, a child molester's life is not precious, so once you abuse the opportunity, it is no longer precious.

? said...

I was once a keeper of ants and did and still do love observing them and their hills. My parents had no knowledge of this but we had a very large house with very vast grounds with woods and lots of trees. I used to play on the green grass and in the woods as far away from the main house. I would take my toys including my self made ant trap close by to the ant hills and lure the ants with some sugar. As soon as I have about 5 in my trap, Ill return to my bedroom and play with them for a while and later set them free by the pool side. They are so organised and sometimes I feel they are just like us but unclothed. I find it hard to kill any living creature. I know it may sound as though I'm an idiot but even whenever a bee/wasp came by, I would remain still. Sometimes they will perch next to where I am and I would just observe how amazing life is. Strangely they never sting but fly away after a while. The reason I cant hurt any living thing is simply as you have stated above: can we create them?

? said...

And on the subject of death, I think I agree with what you have said and everyone has a point including all your readers.