How do you tell the story of humanity in 500 words?

It's impossible honestly.

And here I am trying to do it.

Human nature, the fate of this world, it's all so complex that I'm not sure any amount of words could do it justice. We'd still be confused.

There's so much uniqueness, so much diversity, so much gray area, specifically when it comes to character and value and ambitions and dreams.

Yes... chasing stars.

That's what we do, isn't it? Some sparkling speck of light in the distance catches our eye, and we run to it, sometimes with everything we've got, and sometimes only in our minds, but either way, we run. And once we start running... it can be nearly impossible to stop.

Why is that? Why do we get so caught up in aspirations that we fritter our lives away on foolish desires? Why can't we stop ourselves?

That question is the subtext of history. And it may never be truly solved.

But the why aside, the what is that we become so laser focused on achieving some worldly standard of greatness or acceptance, often based solely on others' opinions, that we dig ourselves a grave of never feeling like we're enough.

I'll be frank with this, like I rarely am. With how much pressure we place on pleasing the world... we set ourselves up for failure after fall after disappointment. 

And even when it hurts like nothing has hurt before, we don't stop. We can't stop. Because we're so concerned with reaching this 'star' that we don't know what we would do with ourselves if we never attained it.

Don't get me wrong, I have incredible faith in dreams, in the power of dreams. And as this poem will tell you, chasing stars doesn't have to be a bad thing. There are many great things about the world, as flawed as it is, and I'm all for wishes coming true.

However, it seems that at the same time as all our circling and striving, we also form, in the backs of our minds, this notion that we'll never succeed. Hopelessness. And still we don't stop.

That's the trap. That's the cage. That's the force of the human craving for love, worth, and belonging that sucks us into a vortex of emotions we can't even define. Endless dissatisfaction.

And maybe it's because everyone around us is trapped in the very same thing.

I've worked myself into a hole just now that I'll never be able to climb out of... certainly not in 500 words.

These thoughts are the things that swirl around my brain as I write, as I lie awake at night, as I go about my day, and maybe that seems weird. But once you see it, once you recognize the rat race society is constantly running... you can never forget it.

Don't be frightened. That's not what truth is meant to do, believe it or not.

Truth should be hopeful. Because once we have answers... maybe we can find a solution.

And maybe we can put the hope back in chasing stars.

<3 Rea