Emily asks a poignant question in Our Town when she searchingly poses, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?" We all know the answer is no, but the question is why? Why do we humans, who for the most part desperately cling to life in its final minutes, fail to realize the beauty and wonder of life when we are alive? ( This post closes at midnight on Sunday, September 27th.)
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For the most part, most humans are always too busy to even relax. We never think about the daily luxuries in our lives. Humans are always going different places, and we are usually in a big hurry. Therefore, we never take time to absorb all the wonderful things occurring everyday in our daily routine. Since we are too busy living life, we never have time to question death. Although we know that most of our loved ones are in a better place when they leave this earth, we still find it hard to let go of them. We humans find it hard to let go of life because we believe that the life should be lived to the fullest.
GG-0
I think that as very young children, we do notice the magical details of life. We will stare in awe at the night sky or play wonderingly with a small bug as we discover the world. After a few years, however, life becomes commonplace, and we see life less as a miracle and more as a routine; we just go through the motions while focused on future events—even as kindergarten students we are asked what we want to be when we grow up. We become so fixated on getting to the future that we forget to enjoy the present, and the magic of life passes us by, unnoticed and unappreciated.
JJ-3
As we have learned from OUR TOWN, life is simply a series of small wonders that occasionally connect some rare instances of truly recognizable miracles. Many people, however, tend to lose their value for these small wonders as they continue through life. For example, once children have experienced something of true greatness, like riding their first bike, reading their novel, or even giving their first kiss, they raise the standard of each one of life's small wonders. Eventually, they forget the older wonders as they expect new things in the future. Just as OUR TOWN demonstrates the cycle of life, it also reveals the inevitable cycle of gradual blindness to life's small wonders. As people age, they look to their new experiences in the future while forgetting the ones that once amazed them. By the end of a person's life, that person can no longer look to future experiences as their time in the world is coming to a close. As a result, they look to all their past experiences and regret ever overlooking all the true wonders that enriched their lives. When they see the total image of life's wonders, they cling to its beauty, desperate for more time.
BS-0
Humans seem to never realize the beauty and wonder of life simply because they are always moving forward towards the future, never stopping, searching for something that they just cannot find. Personally, because I am now a senior in high school, this is clearer to me than ever. I spend most of my time worrying about how what I am doing now will affect both my very near and distant future. The stress that this causes is what often keeps me from appreciating life, and sometimes, what keeps me from being happy. Often, I simply have to stop and remind myself that this is it, that this is my only life. In order to appreciate life, humans must fully realize that the future is not guaranteed and that this moment is really all we have.
ST-0
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