To The Hereafter

The date is November 3rd, 2024. The Institutionalists have been pronounced dead. Never to rise again. Cause of death: sudden collapse due to acute exhaustion and rapid decay. This was a shock to some and a surprise to many, but one that must be acknowledged in order for the grieving process to begin in earnest. We now endeavor to remember the Institutionalists for what they were, both the good and the bad. They represented themselves as bastions of decency, honor, and decorum. They strived for order and civility above all else, even to a fault some would say. But deep down inside there was a hollowing out, a rot that began somewhere deep inside and expanded in all directions.

It’s in times like these that the past can feel like a curse, filled with specters that aim to torment and fill you with grief. Looking back can feel futile, largely avoided, because, for the most part, the main reason to look back is to examine and confront failure, to hone in on the turning points, the seminal choices that felt routine in the moment but would have a monumental impact on the future. Additionally, in that initial moment of introspection, you finally realize how much time has truly passed and how vastly different the world can be compared to when you first began your journey. You look around and see the proud edifices of vaunted institutions now starting to crumble and fade. What was once bustling thoroughfares filled with fiery rhetoric are now mostly empty save for the few underpaid souls still charged with keeping the buses running on time.

Everything that was built has faded, and you wonder if it’s too late to correct the course. But we must also consider that the future is vast and unknowable like the deepest stretches of the ocean or the golden shimmer of a morning mist. As long as we draw breath here today, there is still time to change, and thus the hard, necessary work of introspection must commence, a process that will be messy and take time and be slow and prodding and a little chaotic.

But what other choice is there?

It’s how the world works for now, and it’s how hope continues.