No matter what someone might say, everyone is afraid of their own mortality, simply because it is inescapable. Impermanence has been a universal concern for as long as humans have existed, and it is the inevitability to rule all others. Perishability is having a single life that can be ended at any point in time for any reason, and once it ends, you get no more chances. Transience looms above the world, observing the widespread and immense fear that it has created with its own mere presence.
Not so long ago, Drake’s song “The Motto” sparked a revolution among people of all ages and walks of life. The phrase mentioned in the song is “YOLO”, meaning You Only Live Once. This also means that there is a certain pressure on younger people to live their lives to the fullest, predicting that the future will be horrifying if not nonexistent, leaving regrets of not having more fun while you could. The general idea of YOLO is lighthearted and fun, encouraging young people to have fun while their youth allows, but when you get to the core of the slogan, it is actually quite morbid, and people quickly realised the morbidity. A few popular pop songs were released soon after the slogan grew, like One Direction’s “Live While We’re Young”, and even Vampire Weekend’s entire album Modern Vampires of the City, touching on how most people associate their adult life with death. One song from Vampire Weekend’s album’s title perfectly describes this concept, titled Diane Young (it’s a pun and a great song ( Check it out )). The pop culture world just brushed these upbeat songs off, neglecting to realise the real meaning of them. The rise of YOLO has only increased the immense fear of mortality, indicating that death is creeping upon us while we enjoy our youth. The simple fear of transience is what drove the YOLO slogan to its international fame.
Another focus is that most people feel that they wasted their youth, resulting in a sad adult life (and sometimes, sadly, suicide). Teenagers and young adults are doing more with their lives than ever before, and while this is a good thing, it also results in them doing reckless activities that they might not have even dreamed of doing before the rise of YOLO and the pressure on youths. The simple truth is that people are stressing themselves out too much trying to do more exhilarating things in their life that the forget to actually live their life how they want, only slightly outside their comfort zone. Ephemerality is having only one life that can be ended any minute by an infinite amount of reasons, but you can’t live every life. Nobody can do everything, but you might as well try. That’s where many philosophers enter the conversation, stating that the sole purpose of human life is to ( at least ) attempt to do everything. Have you ever met, or even heard of, someone that can play the piano, fluently speak 20 languages, play football and soccer with the pros, and is also a singer? Me neither. People usually try to master things that they are good at, then begin learning other things according to their interests in life. Living the fullest life you have (according to some philosophers) is measured by how many enjoyable things you have done on your own in your life. That’s the root of why people stand by YOLO and are afraid of growing old. They feel that by the time they become an adult, their jobs take over their social and personal life and the rest of their life is a speed train to death, yet again leading right back to humanity.
Perishability is the basic root of every fear. You are afraid of rollercoasters? Probably because you are afraid of dying on one. You are afraid of planes? Probably because you believe in the very real chance that the plane could crash and you could die. Other fears are more complex, for example, in the Book Thief, a bomb is dropped on Munich, Germany, the setting of the story, killing everyone Leisel has ever known, leaving her alone. Impermanence is still a root of the fear of being left completely alone, because usually the reason you are alone is because of a death at some point. Leisel is alone because her family and friends were killed, yet she wasn’t. This fear is buried inside Leisel from the very beginning of the book, where she is sent to her foster parents alone because her brother had died along the way. Fears that don’t incorporate impermanence into them are not exactly fears, more like things that you are immensely afraid of.
It is impossible to get over your ineluctable transience. I dare you to sit alone, with no distractions. You will most likely begin to question your own Humanity, the purpose of life, and other philosophical topics. Just thinking about Perishability strikes fear in anybody because no matter how many bullet-proof vests you wear, no matter how many vitamins you take, you will die at some point and there is no way to stop it. It is, however, possible to overcome the impermanence of those around you, but even that results in contemplating your own Humanity. Ephemerality is absolutely inexorable and morbid, only meaning the end of a life. this is where irony takes place, because many people make their living off of human’s simple perishability. Morticians, funeral Directors, and many other vocations exist solely because of ephemerality. These people are taking advantage of the inevitable and making the most of their own lives, turning the tables of the concept of living your life to the fullest before you die.
Every living thing has impermanence. Even though some living things can live for a very long time, nothing is truly immortal. How would we even know if immortal? Mere seconds after you deem something immortal, it could drop dead. Even if you live longer than most things, that does not deem you immortal when all you have accomplished is outliving another creature.The present is happening and the past has happened, so what happens next? “Nobody knows what the future holds, it’s bad enough just getting old.” ( Diane Young, Vampire Weekend )
The quote mentioned in the above paragraph reflects how youths feel about their older years, stating that “it’s bad enough just getting old.” There really is no way to predict the future, or prevent your aging process. From the YOLO Revolution has risen more marketing strategies for makeups geared towards women, telling them that they can pause their aging process, warding off wrinkles and sagging and creating the illusion of being younger than you actually are. The illusion of appearing young makes people feel as if they are young and have more time to live their life. Of course, appearance to others is also a factor of these products, but that still comes down to the fear of transience and getting old, to impress and/or attract those around you to enhance your living experience before your inevitable death.
Some people are afraid of living their life because of what they might learn. Learning something new is always beneficial, because even if you feel like it is completely useless at the moment, it will probably come in handy at some point, and if it doesn’t, you still learned something new. There is one massive side effect of wisdom, however, and that is sadness. As you acquire more wisdom and learn more things, the springtime feeling that you had before you had learned so much has disappeared, replaced by sadness ( and, of course, knowledge ). Certain knowledge makes you happier as you age, but the knowledge of transience is anything but happy. Philosophical wisdom brings inevitable depression after realising the reality of your humanity.
In conclusion, death is quite obviously inescapable, and it is perfectly natural to fear it. That shouldn’t stop you from living your life to what you believe to be the fullest, not what society defines as the fullest. That also means that just because you have grown old, you still have opportunities to do what you want to do. Although work and other problems will get in the way, you can still pursue your passions. YOLO shouldn’t pressure you to do something, or even live your life fast. Nothing should pressure you into doing everything humanly possible before your humanity takes control, or, even worse, your adulthood takes control. The more you delve into the concept of mortality, the more you will begin to realise how deep your fear actually is. Although perishability is inevitable, universally feared, and looming, it is ignorable.
references: ( In the paragraph about wisdom, I am vaguely referring to a quote from Vampire Weekend about the mention of sadness in their album during an interview with Men In Blazers Podcast/Show )
Diane Young, Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampire of the City, 2013