The Life Within Me

One scorching summer day in the 7th grade, I sat in my living room pondering what I was going to do to not waste another precious day before school starts. I looked around hoping to find something intriguing, but instead I gave up and went outside. Although it was at least 90 degrees outside, it did not stop me from playing basketball on my driveway. I went through my normal routine, but after 15 minutes I could not bear the heat so I went to take a water break. As I was gulping down my whole bottle, I saw something furry from the corner of my eye. At first instinct, I thought it was a fox because there were recent sightings of it wandering around the neighborhood. As I set my water bottle down, a squirrel came into full view. It stared at me for a solid 20 seconds, so I thought it wanted some water. As I squirted some water out of my bottle in the direction of the squirrel, it darted into the bush before running up a tree. 4 years ago, I didn't think much about this moment. Now, after we discussed "The Death of the Moth” in class, I couldn't help but bring my mind back to this minimal moment in my life. Just as Virginia Woolf depicts the moth as an "insignificant little creature", I too thought this squirrel meant nothing to the world. As I remember this interaction, I cannot help but think that this moment, which meant nothing to me, was a pivotal moment in the squirrel's life. Moreover, it thinks that it barely escaped from a tragic incident that instead was nothing more than a few water drops. Since this incident had taken place four years ago, there is a high chance that this squirrel has passed by either old age or a terrible incident. As I think of the tragedy this squirrel could have gone through, I too like Virginia Woolf feel pity for the animal but it is not going to majorly affect me regarding my future. Still for the squirrel's family, this tragedy could have a high emotional effect on them. Listening to Woolf's story, I realize now that anybody's life will not matter in the long run except to a countable number of people. For example, even if someone famous dies, thousands will be sad for a week or two but they will soon continue on with their daily lives. my point is that although your life is not meaningful to everybody, it should be meaningful to yourself. On that day 4 years ago, that squirrel thought it experienced a life or death situation and it was probably relieved to escape with no harm. Except for the people reading this blog, nobody will ever realize or even care about the story of this squirrel.