Preserves: A Collection of Essays
Abstract
There is no getting around the fact that I am mortal. Someday I will die. Instinctively I don't want to be less than a blink on the earth; I want to make a difference, to remain. I am struggling to figure out my individual compulsion to preserve ideas, memories, objects, people. How much of my desire to preserve is grasping for some sense of permanence where time can't pass me by? How much is a fear of leaving mortality without feeling like my presence mattered to the world? Through this collection of essays I grapple with these questions; through this collection I strive to record pieces of myself for my future self, for my family and friends, for those who don't even know me. Even though the essay is an imperfect means of preservation, it is a productive sort of permanence.